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How is Amber Heard paying for all this? We heard her testify that she paid over 6 Million Dollars defending the defamation lawsuit….but did she? Her insurance companies are fighting over who should pay for her legal defense and it has a lot of details. Furthermore, her insurance company New York Marine is suing her for a judgment, saying they don’t have to pay for her lawyers or her Judgement. There is also the question of the suspension bond, will Johnny Depp be able to go after Amber Heard for the $10 Million judgment? Judge A made clear any suspension bond would need to be the full amount of the judgment plus the 6% interest. It will be interesting to see where this goes from here.
Transcript
Welcome back to this week's
episode of The Emily Show.
And today
we are exploring a question
that I get asked so much
How is Amber
Heard paying for all of this?
How is she paying
for the appeal?
How did she pay for her case?
And to do that, we need to
explore the insurance cases.
So a few have heard
about the insurance cases
and are wondering
what's going on.
The reason I say cases
is because there are two
and we need to explore them now.
So today I'm breaking down
both of the insurance cases
and the judge's statements
at the June 24th hearing
about the suspension bond.
And what Amber Heard
has to pay for her appeal.
So we just need to get into it.
It's it's multiple cases
and it's look, it's
nerdy lore, interesting stuff.
And I can't wait to break it
down. So let's just get going.
Hey there.
Welcome to the Emily Show.
I'm your host, Emily Baker,
badass lawyer and everyone's
favorite legal commentator
breaking down the legal shit
in the news
and pop culture stories
you want to talk about.
I've been a licensed attorney
for over 15 years.
I'm a former prosecutor and I'm
a big fan of the crazy where.
So let's break it down.
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And with that, let's get
back into today's episode.
So where we are so far
in the Johnny Depp Amber
Heard case is that Johnny Depp
was kind of a big winner
after jury trial.
He won all three
of his causes of action
and won over $10
million in damages.
It was 10 million
and compensatory,
5 million and punitive.
Those are the punishment ones.
The punitive damages
got reduced by law
because in Virginia,
they're like, you can't do that.
The max is 350,000.
They don't tell the jury that.
So the jury awarded
what they wanted to and punitive
they thought 5 million
was punishment for the behavior.
I'm surprised
they didn't pick seven.
Like if they're going that high,
why not just pick seven
that was pledged
and not donate it? I don't know.
But they did so ten and five
reduced to 350. So 10.3 million.
Amber Heard won one of her
causes of action against Johnny
Depp for statements
made by Adam Waldman.
So whenever the media talks
about the fact
that Amber Heard didn't
even mention
Johnny Depp's name,
they never seem to mention
the fact that Johnny Depp
didn't even say shit.
But I digress.
It's one of the inconsistencies
that has made me
absolutely crazy in watching
the reporting on this case.
Amber
Heard didn't even say his name.
Okay, Johnny Depp
didn't say anything.
So if we're keeping that energy,
I'm here for it.
With that,
we got into both parties
filing their notice of appeal.
A notice of appeal means
I'm going to appeal.
Both of them filed the
appropriate appeal bond of $500.
The question is, what about the
suspension of judgment bond?
Does it have to be filed or not?
And we're going to talk
about what judge as karate
had to say about that,
because there is still
conflicting
information about it.
We will see.
The deadline
is going to be Monday
before this episode's released,
but after it's recorded.
So we'll see what happens.
There will be a note.
Check the show notes,
check my check.
If luck,
whatever information comes out,
I will probably do a short
about it over on the quick bits
channel or on Instagram or
tik-tok. So check the socials.
There will be an update
and we'll see.
So with that, we have both
parties filing notice of appeal.
Each party
has three months to file
their brief,
the appellate brief,
what they're going to tell us
about what they're going to
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but they're still great.
So with that,
the briefs are going to be filed
within three months.
Should they be filed sooner?
Yes. Yes, they could.
And that's
going to lay out the law,
the rulings,
the issues that each party have.
This is why we think
there needs to be a new trial.
This is why we think it should
be less of a judgment award.
This is why the jury can't do
what they did.
All of that stuff
will be in the appellate brief
and at that point, we can
evaluate the law and the facts
as they're presenting it
to the appellate court.
And then the judges or judge on
the appellate court
is going to decide
what happens on appeal.
So that's
where we're at with the appeal.
But because we know that Amber
Heard had a judgment against her
of over $10 million,
and because her lawyer, Lane,
went on all of the morning
shows very quickly
right after the verdict
and talked about the fact
that Amber Heard doesn't
have the money
to pay the judgment,
the question came up,
what about the bond
for the appeal?
And again, the $500 bond to file
the notice of appeal
has been paid by both parties,
it seems, based on the filings.
But the judge talked
about the suspension bond
when the judge entered
the judgment
against Amber Heard
and Johnny Depp on June 24th.
And we're going to take a look
at that transcript right now.
So during the June 24th hearing,
they talked about whether things
would be sealed or unsealed.
And we know
and I've talked about previously
that a bunch of things
are going to be unsealed.
When that happens, we'll start
looking at those documents.
They have been crowdfunded
by Andrea
Burkhart over on Twitter,
who also has a YouTube
channel, is also a lawyer
that's been covering this case
for a substantial
amount of time,
and I believe others are going
to be obtaining them as well.
So we will at some point,
we will see them
and we will cover them
and go over them.
So when things get unsealed,
it's going to be
thousands of pages of documents
to go through.
I hope there's a group effort.
I need to reach out
to the lawyers and be like,
How are
we dividing the outlines?
Like law school?
What motions are people covering
and what?
Just divide up the work it's
going to be so many documents,
but at the end of that hearing,
when they were talking about
unsealing things,
then we have Ms..
Bright a half a lane saying
and we will answer quote,
We'll look for it
and we'll answer no later
than next Friday when we file it
with the post-trial motions.
Your Honor, the court says,
All right,
Alayne says on the seal,
the court says, that's fine.
And when you appeal,
there will be a suspension
bond to you understand that?
That's the court.
And when you appeal,
there will be a suspension
bond to not a there may be not a
you can ask for one.
There will be.
So it's my understanding,
based on what
the judge is saying
in this case,
that the judge anticipates
a suspension
bond will be put into place.
Emily, what does that mean?
Okay, real quick,
a suspension bond
means that you need to put up
the amount of the judgment
while the judge
is going to tell them
how much they need to put up
so that the other parties
not trying to collect your bond,
well,
they or collect their judgment
while you're appealing.
It's almost like escrow.
You put all the money in escrow
and if you lose your appeal,
it goes to the party
it's supposed to go to.
If you win your appeal,
it goes back to you
or stays in escrow until
whatever happens next happens.
So it's a way to make sure
that it's
not an appeal as a delay tactic
to just not pay. Right.
So there's a lot of
circumstances
where we've seen different
type of appeals bond
be put into place
in cases that we've covered,
particularly for our purposes
because I cover so much
that's in the trial of a court.
We see appeals
with preliminary injunctions.
When you get a preliminary
injunction,
there is generally a bond
that can be enforced against you
for the losing side,
because if you're delaying
something,
you know, on and on and on.
So we've seen that in the Nike
mischief case.
We've seen that in the dress
designer case.
We've seen it
in a few other cases
where a bond is posted
due to a preliminary injunction.
This is a post-trial suspension
bond.
So let us not delve
into that anymore.
But look at what the judge said.
The Court That's fine.
And when you appeal,
there will be a suspension
bond to you understand that?
Alayne
We plan on addressing that
with the post-trial motions,
Your Honor,
she didn't spoiler alert.
It wasn't mentioned
in any of the post-race
file motions that I've seen.
And I think
we covered them all here.
So Alayne says
we plan on addressing it
with post-trial motion.
The court said, Well,
I can address it right now
if you want a lane
cut off the court and said,
I'd prefer to be able to.
And the court says,
I understand what you prefer.
Ooh, okay, Your Honor,
I understand what you prefer,
but I'm going to tell you,
the suspension bond
would be
the amount of the judgment
plus 6% interest for a year,
because that's
what it should be,
the amount of the judgment
plus 6% interest for the year.
So the court is telling Alayne
there will be a suspension bond
and it will be 10.3
million plus 6% interest.
Ms. Bright A half OC.
The Court Okay,
so that's one less thing I have.
You have to address. Ms.
Bright of Hot.
Well, Will, Your Honor
permit me to at least address
that in the post-trial motions,
and the court says if you wish,
but that's my order right now.
Alayne says, I understand,
completely understand.
The court says, okay.
Elaine says,
Thank you, Your Honor.
The court says, All right,
anything further bent?
You says, No, Your Honor.
Thank you very much.
The court says.
Anything further?
Elaine says, no.
The court says,
All right, we'll get
a copy of this order for you.
And then Ms..
Hoff said, I hope Your Honor had
a great vacation, by the way.
And the court said,
okay, I the court is in recess.
And that is kind of the end
of the part of the hearing
that's relevant for us.
At the very end of that hearing,
entering the final judgment.
But the court says, well,
so where this suspension
bond will come from,
we don't know yet,
but someone will be putting up
these suspension bond there.
You know,
I'm sure they will be working
with the bond company
to put it up
and put up collateral for it.
But we will see 10.3 million
plus 6% interest is just a lot.
But let's
look at how Amber Heard
was paying for her lawyers,
because we've learned
quite a lot about it
in a group of lawsuits.
There are two.
The first lawsuit is Travelers
Insurance
versus New York
Marine Insurance.
I'm going to truncate those two
travelers in New York Marine
because they are
suing each other
because they have both insured
Amber Heard.
The other one is New York Marine
suing Amber Heard directly,
both of these are in California
in federal court
because the insurance policies
were issued as homeowners
policies and umbrella policies
or general policies
in California.
We're not going to get into
the whole nitty gritty of these,
but we're going to go over
the things that we've learned
about Amber Heard defense
and what was going on behind
the scenes with the lawyers.
Because it's
really interesting stuff.
So the first
lawsuit we're looking at
is the first amended complaint
from Travelers Insurance
versus New York Marine.
And we're going
to look at the allegations
and then we're going to go
look at the answer from New York
Marine to get a little bit
more of the facts in this case.
So what travelers,
commercial insurance
company travelers
is looking for with New York
Marine is declaratory judgment
an equitable contribution?
What that means
is that they are looking for
the judge to declare something,
to make a ruling.
This is what it is to decide
a matter of law
as it applies to the facts
and for equitable contribution
of defense expenses.
Hey, we paid for this.
Pay us back or pay us your part.
So let's look at the facts here
and the allegations
from travelers.
What I appreciate
about the insurance lawsuits
is they are really concise
in their facts.
They're just written
in a very direct way
and it makes it
just so easy to go through.
Thank you to the lawyers
from Travelers and New York
Marine
for just getting to the point
and just putting it out
on paper. Just thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Defendant, New York Marine
and General Insurance Company.
And they call them pro site.
I don't know why
but in the case
they are calling them pro site.
I have been calling them
New York Marine in the document,
you will see it as pro
site, literally.
I have no idea
why I didn't research it,
but they're saying that
defendant, New York Marine
failed to meet its obligation
to provide its and travelers
mutual insured.
Amber
Heard, a California resident
with independent counsel
to defend the insured.
Amber heard
in an underlying
defamation action,
which is a breach of
its insurance policy
and its obligations.
New York Marine didn't
pay for independent counsel
for Amber Heard.
They go on to allege that
it has unfairly forced travelers
to pay
pro site's proper
share of defense costs.
Hey, we had to pay
for all the lawyers.
Travelers
has been damaged by this conduct
and it is entitled to a judgment
in the form of a declaration.
The pro site was obligated
to provide the mutual
insured with a proper defense.
Your Honor, tell Marine
General Pro site
that they had to pay Amber Heard
legal defense.
They had to pay for the lawyers.
We paid for all of it.
They have to pay their part.
Don't worry.
We're going to get into
whether they have to pay
or not in the second lawsuit.
So just just don't
get ahead of ourselves.
We're going to talk about it.
Don't worry.
They say that under the doctrine
of equitable contribution,
travelers
is entitled to reimbursement
from pro site
of at least half of the moneys
traveler has spent so far
to defend their mutual insured
with proper counsel and adequate
experts and vendors.
Travelers paid the attorneys,
the experts and vendors.
And they're going to tell you
how much they spent in attorneys
fees in a little bit.
And if you're sitting here
going, but, Emily,
I watched this whole trial
on your channel
and I remember when Amber Heard
was on the stand saying,
I've paid over
$6 million to defend this case.
What did she mean?
Well, she was using
I paid and travelers
paid synonymously
because travelers
makes it very clear
in this litigation
that they paid, not Amber Heard.
Did Amber heard
pay for the insurance?
We don't know who paid
for the insurance policy,
but we know that travelers
was paying for adequate experts,
vendors and proper counsel.
Why did they say proper counsel?
There's an argument over
whether the insurance company
picks the attorney or whether
the insurer picks the attorney.
It's an argument
that we are going to skip over
pretty quickly
because the facts that Maureen,
New York Maureen lays out are
very interesting on that point.
And so we will get there
when well, when we got there,
they lay out
information about the policies
that travelers
issue to homeowners policy
starting in November 14th, 2018,
and ended November 14th, 2019.
And then New York.
Maureen issued a policy
that was a commercial general
liability insurance policy
between January 18th, 2018
and sorry, July 18th, 2018
and July 18th, 2019.
So both of these are covering
from 2018 to 2019.
Remember that defamatory article
came out in December 2018?
So it falls
under both of these policies.
They talk about the underlying
defamation action,
which we know about in March
2019,
Heard was sued in Virginia
over the article Travelers
Response to the tender,
the tender being Amber Heard
going to her insurance company
being like,
I'm insured, I'm sued handle it
that they accepted
responsibility.
They offered to pay
for independent
defense counsel of Amber
Heard's own selection, subject
to rate limitations
under the California civil code.
And that traveler has paid
the fees.
Travelers has paid
the fees of the mutually insured
independent defense counsel,
travelers paid the fees.
They said that
pro site accepted its obligation
to defend the insured
under our reservation of rights.
Meaning if we don't have to,
we're not going to.
That's a very,
very brief summation,
but we'll see it in the other
lawsuit.
Pro cites reservation
triggered the mutual insurers
right to independent counsel
under California law.
And then they go through
the California law.
The judge made
a lot of rulings about this.
So we're not going to dove
into that tangent of it.
If there are any insurance
attorneys
listening, I'm not ignoring it.
It just is way deeper
than our purposes here today.
They said that Pro cites
reservation of rights
letters triggered
the fact that Amber Heard
was allowed
to choose independent counsel,
and they allege that instead
they picked the counsel
for Amber Heard.
They also said that pro site
sent an email
to travelers on September
30, 2019, encouraging travelers
to revise its revision of rights
in such a way
as to avoid having
to provide the mutual insured
Amber Heard
with independent defense Counsel
by Independent Defense Counsel
in defense counsel of Amber
Heard's choice
not of the insurance
companies choice,
and said in
the email, according to this
allegation,
that the reservation of rights
under the intentional acts
exclusion is not necessary
as coverage for willful acts
is not insurable
as a matter of public policy,
just like punitive damages.
This is really the basis
of the other lawsuit
that the insurance coverage is
not applicable to willful acts.
And if you're sitting there
going,
wait a sec, defamation against
public figures involves malice.
It isn't malice,
just willfulness.
Yes, yes, it is.
And we will get to it.
So they go on in this email,
as it's alleged in this lawsuit,
to say if you reserve rights
by simply saying, quote,
To the extent that California
law does not permit an insurer
to indemnify the insured,
no indemnity can be provided.
You address both the willful
acts and punitive damages.
Insurance doesn't cover that,
and you can still control
the defense as
there is no conflict of interest
under California law.
What the judge ruled
in other motions regarding
this is that this is not under
California law.
This is Virginia.
They're Virginia attorneys
in a Virginia court,
though,
the insurance policies are
governed under California law.
The attorney conflict
rules of Virginia
are what's going to apply.
That's a whole deep
dove into insurance.
They're saying that pro site
instead appointed
defense counsel of its choosing
and refused demands by heard
and by travelers
to participate in the defense
with counsel of the insureds
choosing Amber Heard.
They say that this was
compounded by a breach of duty
to defend duty to defend
that defamation lawsuit
by having its appointed counsel
do next to nothing and quote
unquote, piggybacking
on the work of the mutual
insurance independent counsel
paid for by travelers.
So we now have allegations
that there were attorneys
hired by travelers
and attorneys hired by New York
Marine One, not hire
attorneys hired by Amber Heard
and paid for by the insurance
travelers is alleging
they let Amber Heard choose
whoever she wanted, make us aid.
But they're saying that New York
Marine
chose the attorneys for Amber
Heard and did not participate
with travelers in letting her
choose her own attorneys.
That's
what they're alleging here.
Then they say that pro sites
appointed counsel
withdrew from representation
of Heard November 20, 2020
and that pro site advised
travelers on January 21, 2021
that it would pay
50% of the fees and costs
incurred by the independent
defense counsel
after November 20, 2020,
after the time
where their attorneys
withdrew from representation.
Then they get into the disputes,
the declaratory,
the declaratory judgment.
They are seeking a declaration
against New York Marine saying
duty to defend
since the underlying action
was tendered to it.
And through the present process,
it is obligated under the policy
to defend the insurer.
You have to provide
money for the legal defense
duty to
defend with independent counsel.
Not only do
you have to provide attorneys,
you have to let the insurer pick
the attorneys
breach of duty to defend the pro
site, failed to meet its duty
to defend the insured
in the underlying action,
and has failed to properly
defend the insured
with independent defense
counsels of the insureds.
Choosing
then obligation
to reimburse travelers
because they had an obligation
to defend is what they're saying
that now
they have to reimburse travelers
for at least half of the fees,
costs
and expenses
incurred by travelers
obligation to pay fees and costs
incurred by independent counsel.
Hey, we've been paying all the
fees and costs for the lawyers.
You have to pay for the lawyers.
They say travelers is informed
and believes that pro site
disputes travelers right to each
and every one of the foregoing
your honor rule
as a matter of law on the facts
that the and declare this relief
because once you declare this
relief then they can follow up.
Then they're also asking in
count two
for equitable
contribution. Pay us, pay us,
pay us.
So let's get into the facts
a little bit more
on what pay us really means.
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Let's get back to today's
episode.
So in
their answer to this lawsuit,
New York,
Maureen was like, Cute.
We deny everything.
And this is typical
in an answer to a lawsuit.
We deny this.
We deny that we don't have
enough information to deny
these are our affirmative
defenses, etc.
So we're not going to go
through the general denials
because it's like deny,
deny, deny,
but then they also countersued.
So aside
from the general denials
we get the counterclaim
and the counterclaim gives us
all of the tea.
The counterclaim tells us
what's going on
with these lawyers,
and I'm here for it.
So in the counterclaim,
New York, Maureen acknowledges
that travelers had a policy
that went from the same dates
that that New York
Maureen had a commercial general
liability policy
that Amber
Heard was sued in Virginia
for defamation in March:that New York Maureen accepted
the insureds
defense and said,
in or about September 4th, 2019,
the insured tendered the
underlying action to New York.
Maureen So Amber Heard
sent it to New York.
MAUREEN For insurance coverage
on September 4th, 2019.
And they say upon information
and belief, they also tendered
the underlying actually
travelers on the same day.
They say on October 1st, 2019,
New York, Maureen accepted
the insureds defense subject
to a reservation of rights.
Hey, we're not going to pay
anything.
We don't have to by law.
And they appointed the law
firm of Cameron McEvoy
P LLC to defend the assured
in the underlying action.
This is the key for me.
At the time
it appointed Cameron McEvoy
to represent the insured
in the underlying action camera.
McEvoy was already representing
the insured in that litigation,
having
been retained by the insured.
Oh what?
So they appointed the attorney
that had already been hired
by Amber Heard.
Weird, weird.
So all of the argument over
independent counsel
I don't think is on point
because Amber Heard had already
hired these attorneys
when they said, okay,
we will appoint these attorneys,
we're
appointing these attorneys.
The attorneys
that you already retained
independently, making them
that independent attorneys.
They say that Cameron McEvoy
is located in Fairfax, Virginia.
And you know what?
They don't allege the Cameron
McEvoy is so fucking glad
that they are not involved
in all of this.
But I think we can read
between the lines here.
That's just me being cheeky.
Cameron McEvoy is located in
Fairfax, Virginia,
and the attorneys
retained to defend the insured
in the underlying action
are licensed in Virginia,
not California, relevant
to the other provisions
we talked about in appointing
Cameron McEvoy, New York,
Maureen expressly instructed
that firm that it was to serve
as lead counsel.
You've already been retained.
You are lead counsel.
Traveler accepted the insureds
defense on October 7th after
New York Maureen
and travelers agreed to
assume the defense
and the underlying action
travelers on October 7th, 2019
sent a reservation of rights
letters
to provide the insured
with independent counsel
following traveler's October 7th
Reservation of Rights letter,
the insured retained
and travelers has funded
the insureds defense
through New York based attorney
Roberta Kaplan of the law firm
Kaplan, Hecker and Fink.
And we saw that with
we saw that
in the early depositions
that were played in the trial,
that the early depositions
were done
by this attorney,
Roberta Kaplan, not by a lane.
Remember the date
that the other attorneys
heated themselves in 2020?
I wonder if this has anything
to do with it
in or about June 2020,
the insured replaced
the Kaplan firm with Virginia
based licensed attorney Elaine
Brett, a host of the law firm
Charlson.
Brett
Cohen, Brown and Neidl Haft.
Hmm. Although Travelers
has permitted the insured
and both the Kaplan
and Brett Huff firms
to retain and utilize
other attorneys and firms
to assist in the representation
of the insured.
The Kaplan firm and subsequently
the Brett Huff firm
were the only firms
funded by travelers
who were primarily responsible
for the defense.
They go on to talk about
the fact
that the insurance company
can limit the rates,
and they say that travelers
did not enforce the provision
of the civil code
that allows independent counsel
retained and funded by travelers
to reduce its rates,
they said.
Instead, travelers
permitted the independent
counsel retained by the insurer
to fund
and funded by travelers
to bill and receive payment
at independent counsel's
own usual and customary rates.
Rates
which are higher than, quote,
the rates
which are actually paid
by travelers, quote
to attorneys retained by it
in the ordinary course
of business,
in the defense of
similar actions in the community
where the claim arose
or is being defended.
So in this counterclaim,
you're getting New York,
Maureen, saying,
why should we have to pay half
when you agreed to pay
like all the shit,
but you're not following
the codes to the code.
When you follow the code,
you would have been paying them
a normal rate
for the type of defense
that the insurance company
would normally pay,
not whatever their billing
they say specifically on or
about June 10th, 2020, Travelers
entered into an agreement with
independent counsel Bret Aloft.
Alain, pursuant
to which independent counsel
was permitted
to bill at its usual
and customary hourly rates
which aren't listed here.
Bummer without limitation
on those amounts subject
to a purported agreement
that this would constitute
a quote capped fee of 2.5
million through
post-trial motions. Interesting.
As the February:independent counsel
had exhausted the purported fee
cap of $2.5 million
by February 2021, Brett
had exhausted
the fee cap of 2.5 million,
but trial remained
more than a year away.
They go on to allege that
rather than holding independent
counsel to the agreement,
Hey, you said 2.5 million
through post-trial motions.
The rest
is on you, friend. Good luck,
they say.
On May 18th,
2021, travelers
entered into a new agreement
with independent counsel
pursuant to which it violated
the original tact fee
and agreed to continue
to pay independent counsel's
ongoing fees and costs.
Oh, we had an agreement.
But what about an information
and belief?
By way of the new May 18, 2021,
travelers exercised
its rights under Civil Code:to limit payments
to independent counsel
to rates
that were actually paid by it
to other attorneys retained in
the ordinary course of business.
So that's when they started
limiting what could be charged
filing as a result
and on information and belief,
travelers has occurred
in excess of $5 million
in defense
fees and costs
incurred action
with the underlying action
far in excess of the amounts
which travelers was required
to pay.
In light
of the provision of civil code
2860 C upon
which it could have relied.
Remember, this motion is filed
in case we didn't see it on
March 25th, 2022.
So as of March 25th, 2022,
before this goes to trial, trial
being the most expensive part
of any litigation,
before this goes to trial,
they have exhausted over
$5 million in defense fees.
They then get into
what was going on
between the attorneys
following travelers in New York
Marine's respective
reservations of rights travelers
in New York.
Maureen's,
through the representative
counsel funded by it, proceeded
to defend the insured
in the underlying action.
Independent counsel retained
by the insured
and funded by travelers
consistently refused
to cooperate with Cameron McEvoy
and deliberately obstructed
and prevented Cameron McAvoy's
active involvement
in the defense of Amber Heard,
specifically independent counsel
retained by the insured
and funded by Travelers
permitted Cameron McAvoy and its
attorneys from communications
with the Court
in opposing counsel
from and from case
related emails,
they say that the Travelers
Attorneys, Alain at one point
also frequently admitted
and failed to notify or include
Cameron McEvoy in discussions
in consideration of
strategy and tactics,
and frequently failed to include
Cameron
McEvoy pleadings and notices,
including by removing them
from the pleadings, proofs
of services
and other notices in
or about August 20, 20,
the Bretton Hall
firm entered into a stipulation
to continue the trial
without including Cameron McAvoy
in discussion.
Expensive, by the way,
delaying trial for two years
without notifying
counsel of such stipulation,
without including them
on the stipulation
or proofs of services
with the result
that Cameron McEvoy
learned of the stipulation
and Court's order
through the court's
publicly available docket,
travelers has inhibited
and obstructed
York Marine's
ongoing participation
in the defense of the insured
by failing to timely provide
copies of status reports,
invoices, billing
audits and proofs of payment.
Despite the requests,
they then go on to say in March.
On March 21st, 2020,
an email to attorney Sean
Roche of the Camera McEvoy firm.
Pamela Johnson, Travelers
Assistant VP and Claim
Professional and others
talked about the billing
and sharing of work, stated
that her conversation
with independent counsel
did not go well.
So this is an attorney from
Cameron McEvoy, hired by Amber
Heard and being paid by New York
Marine is trying to communicate
with Alain
and that the conversation
with Elaine, quote unquote,
did not go well.
Great
notwithstanding Travelers
March 2020, conversation
with them, independent counsel
continued to refuse to cooperate
with or facilitate Cameron
McAvoy's active participation
in the defense. Interesting
travelers thereafter both
failed to insist
that independent
counsel cooperate
with and facilitate
the full and active
participation of Cameron McEvoy
in the defense of the insured
and the underlying action
as a result of independent
counsel's refusal. Elaine.
As a result of independent
counsel's refusal
to cooperate with or facilitate
its active participation
in the defense
of the underlying action
and travelers failure to obtain
a required cooperation.
On November six, 2020,
the camera McEvoy firm
withdrew its representation
of Amber Heard.
In this action or in that
action, the defamation action.
So so travelers
paid Alain at all
amber Heard had previously hired
the Cameron McEvoy firm
and New York
Marine appointed them
and was willing to pay them.
And then they couldn't work
with Alain.
And Alain, it sounds from
these allegations, was leaving
them off of everything.
So now they are countersuing.
New York
Marine is countersuing travelers
for declaratory relief
that they didn't owe a duty
to defend the insured
through independent counsel,
that they that New York
Marine did not fail to provide
a defense to its insured.
They tried that.
They don't have to reimburse
travelers
because travelers
doesn't isn't entitled
to 50% of all of the wild fees
they agreed to
and the preferable lines out
all of the declarations
that they want
and the declaratory relief.
But that's not all,
because then New York
Marine sued Amber Heard
Weird.
So on July eight,
20, 22, New York Marine
Insurance
Company sued Amber Heard.
And then they filed
a first amended complaint
on July 11th, 2022,
as we lovingly refer to them
on this channel, SAC.
It's a fact.
Let's take a look briefly
at what New York Marine is suing
Amber Heard over.
It's mostly
for declaratory relief.
It's mostly for declaratory
relief.
The factual allegations,
the insurance policy,
New York
Marine issued policy number,
policy number
listed to named insured
under the Black Sky
Ink and Amber Heard for a policy
period of July 18th, 2018
to July 18th, 2019,
with a per occurrence
limit of $1,000,000.
They say that the
policy includes comprehensive
personal liability coverage,
and they define personal injury
in that comprehensive coverage
to mean injury
other than bodily injury
arising out of one
or more enumerated offenses,
including oral or written
publication of material
that slanders or libels
a person or organization,
including other forms
of defamation.
So defamation is covered.
They go through the underlying
lawsuit and talk about the fact
that Johnny Depp sued
Amber Heard in Virginia
on March
1st, 2019, for The Washington
Post op ed published
December 18th and 19th, 2018.
They said that on October 1st,
they accepted the defense.
As we heard
in the other lawsuit,
and that at the time
Amber Heard had already retained
Cameron McEvoy, LLC,
and this insurance company
went ahead and appointed
that law firm for the defense
to be paid by the insurance.
They say the underlying action
proceeded to trial April
11th on May 27th, the court
issued the jury instructions.
They attached them
because the jury instructions
make it clear that
this is a willful defamation.
They say that on June 1st,
the jury in the underlying
action returned a verdict
in favor of Depp for all counts.
And then they talk about what
the judgment was,
including the 2 million award
and then the 5 million
punitive damages
and then the statutory cap.
Their first course of action
is declaratory relief
as to plaintiff's duty to
indemnify hurt for the judgment
order under the policy.
We're not paying the judgment.
Remember, they're fighting
in the other court
over the lawyers
and now they're saying we're not
paying the judgment either.
Just incorporates everything.
By reference, California
Insurance Code
533 provides
that an insurer is not liable
for a loss caused by the willful
act of the insured. Well
well,
that that that is a problem.
Willful is literally
the part of the defamation
that makes this defamation
hard to prove.
There has to be malice, malice,
willfulness, willful regard.
The truth you have to intended.
It's not a whoopsie.
You have to know that the shit
that you're saying is false.
And the jury found it
specifically.
And in the jury verdict forms
that we've been over,
when it asks, was it willful,
it says yes on all three,
which is why they attached them
as an exhibit
in this case, they attach
all of the jury verdict forms
and the jury instructions
as exhibits to this lawsuit.
But the California insurance
code five, three, three says,
no, sir, no, ma'am.
An insurer,
the insurance company here
is not liable
for a loss caused by the willful
act of the insured.
But he is not exonerated
by a negligence of the insured.
If it was regular defamation,
not of a public figure,
no malice, it's covered.
But when it's malice,
it's not covered.
This provision is an implied
exclusionary clause,
which by statute is read
into all insurance policies.
Under California law,
the jury's factual findings
establish that Hurd's liability
is caused
by the willful acts of Hurd.
And then they go on to say,
Therefore, we don't have to pay.
Due to the actual and present
controversy described above,
we're asking
for declaratory relief,
and then they ask for other
types of declaratory relief,
including that
the plaintiff insurance company
did not have to indemnify
Hurd for the judgment
and the underlying action.
They're asking
for declaratory relief
that the insurance company does
not have to defend Hurd
in the underlying action
this is going to say, look,
we don't have to defend.
So even if the other court is
like, you should share cause
we didn't have a duty to defend.
So this is kind of overlapping
a little bit with the other
interesting insurance
company action.
So they don't have to defend you
because of the willfulness,
meaning that if they had paid
for the defense,
could they go
claw back and be like,
the jury found
this to be willful, pay us back.
We don't have
to we don't have to pay you
or we
don't have to pay your lawyers.
The fourth cause is declaratory
relief
as to the insurance company's
duty to defend
and indemnify
Amber Heard under the policy
and then they reiterate that
in their prayer for relief.
So what we have
here is two lawsuits.
One is the insurance companies
fighting among each other
travelers
has paid over 5 million.
We know that that's gone well up
since March for Amber Heard.
And they want New York
Marine to pay half.
And New York Marine sued Amber
Heard and said,
we don't have to pay you shit.
And New York Marine countersued
travelers and said
we're not paying half.
Also,
you done messed up
because you let the attorneys
wild out with the fees
you boxed out.
Our attorneys, our attorneys
needed and that is on you.
So we're not paying it.
So could Amber Heard be on
the hook for her own judgment?
Yes. Could travelers
under their policy
be on the hook for some of it?
Possibly.
Have we seen all of what
travelers on the hook for? No.
But what we do know is
travelers has footed the bill
for a lane at all.
So when Amber Heard testified
that she has paid
$6 million, was that true?
It depends
what the definition of paid is.
If I paid you mean your
insurance company paid it, then?
I guess.
But if I paid you mean
you donated it?
Well, those things are just
synonymous,
so it's not really paid.
I don't understand
why Amber Heard doesn't
understand
what paying for shit is.
How you not know what paying for
things means. But she doesn't.
So with that,
we're going to see,
I think, an uptick
in the litigation
and between the two insurance
companies.
Now that this case is completed,
we are going to see this back in
court.
It's set for a jury trial.
Will that go to trial?
I don't know.
But if it does, oh, boy.
I want to see
I want to see the emails
between all the attorneys. Yep.
I want to see the attorneys
fighting it out.
What were those conversations
with Lane like before?
The other counsel was like,
We are bouncing.
I want to know
and I'm very interested
to see what's going to happen
with this declaratory relief
against Amber Heard.
I don't think under the law
in California,
I cannot see a situation
where New York Marine has to pay
a dime of this judgment.
And we will see
if Amber Heard puts up
that suspension
bond for the appeal shortly.
It's a whole lot of money,
but it's a whole
nother situation
where Amber Heard's like
what paid, pledged, donated,
insured, whatever.
It's all the same.
It's not all the same
to these insurance companies
that are duking this out
in court.
Don't forget to let me know
what questions you have about
today's episode on social media
if you are a member
in our member spaces.
When I put up discussion
threads, this is not over.
So even though we have
all of the appeals going on,
we're still going to have
these insurance cases going on.
We are not out of the woods
on this yet.
Thank you
so much for being here.
Thank you
for spending another episode
of The Emily Show with the
I will see you in the next one.
May your wife I be strong.
May your toilet paper
be plentiful.
May it not be too hot
where you live.
May your gas not be $7 a gallon.
May your family be well,
may you not have monkeypox,
and may the odds be ever
in your favor.
The outros just going to keep
growing because
weird shit just keeps happening.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for being so honored.
I'll see you in the next one.
