Meghan Markle Fires Her Lawyer Who Represented Johnny Depp In His Libel Trial?(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Advertisement
Court cases can be a tedious process. And who would know this better than the Meghan Markle who is in a court battle herself against The Mail? It looks like she is having a tough time with all the chaos lately. For people who do not know, David Sherborne, the lawyer who was fighting her case, recently fought the case of actor Johnny Depp.
But, with what we hear that The Duchess of Sussex has sacked the barrister. Also, she has replaced him with one of his arch-rivals as the court case resumes on Monday. Well, you will have to continue reading further to know more about this.
According to The Times, David Sherborne will no longer act for Meghan Markle when the case against the Mail on Sunday continues. His client list includes Diana, Princess of Wales, and more recently the actor Johnny Depp. Mr Sherborne lost the first pre-trial hearing in May. As a result, the duchess was ordered to pay the newspaper £67,888 ($120,395) in legal costs.
Now it has been confirmed by Justin Rushbrooke, QC, himself to the portal that he will represent the former television actress in future hearings. The QC is said to have impressed her when standing in for Mr Sherborne while he was busy representing Mr Depp in his defamation claim against The Sun newspaper. There was also speculation in media law circles that the duchess, had ditched Mr Sherborne in solidarity with Amber Heard, Mr Depp’s former wife, who has accused the actor of domestic violence.
A senior lawyer familiar with both barristers said that Mr Sherborne’s representation of Johnny Depp could have troubled Meghan Markle. But sources close to her denied those claims. It is understood there is no love lost between Mr Sherborne and Mr Rushbrooke, who both work out of the chambers 5RB. A source described them as “chalk and cheese”.
For the unversed, The duchess is suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline. It is over an article published in February 2019 that reproduced parts of a handwritten letter she had sent to her father the previous August. She is seeking damages for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.
ANL wholly denies the allegations, particularly Meghan Markle’s claim that the letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning. They say they will hotly contest the case. ANL won the first High Court skirmish in May when Mr Justice Warby struck out parts of the duchess’s claim against the publisher. The judge also struck out allegations that the publisher deliberately “stirred up” issues between the duchess and her father and that it had an “agenda” of publishing intrusive stories about her.
