A new famous client has engaged Johnny Depp’s hotshot lawyer, who previously defended the actor in his defamation battle against ex-wife Amber Heard.
Actress Q’orianka Kilcher, 32, who has gained some notoriety because to her performance in the TV series “Yellowstone,” will be represented by Camille Vasquez, 39.
Kilcher is engaged in a $90,000 legal dispute with the state of California after being accused of committing two felonies in connection with a worker’s compensation claim earlier this year.
Vasquez gained notoriety as a result of Depp’s widely reported defamation lawsuit against actress and ex-wife Heard in Virginia.
After a six-week trial that was broadcast on television, the jury found that Heard had slandered the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor. He received a $10.35 million payout.
Heard, on the other hand, received a $2 million judgement in a countersuit after jurors determined that Depp had slandered her via one of his lawyers.
Following his significant victory in the Depp trial, Vasquez was invited to join Brown Rudnick LLP as a partner. He joined the firm in 2018 as a litigation attorney.
Kilcher will collaborate with company partner and expert in white collar defence investigations Steve Cook in Kilcher’s case.
Vasquez was propelled into the spotlight during Depp’s trial after defending the actor in his well reported case, with the jury mostly finding in his favour.
Heard had said that she had experienced domestic violence in a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post. Heard was found guilty of defaming him in the article by a court.
Vasquez received high accolades for her performance throughout the trial and gained a large following within Depp’s own fan base. During the trial, the two seemed to be close and even gave rise to rumours that they were dating.
Such rumours, however, were dispelled in July when Vasquez was seen meeting Depp’s British lover, Edward Owen.
She will now represent another well-known person in court.
Kilcher is accused of unlawfully collecting “over $90,000 in disability payments” and lying about her injuries to medical professionals, according to an investigation published over the summer by the California Department of Insurance.
For four episodes of the Western on the Paramount Network starring Kevin Costner in 2020, Kilcher portrayed Angela Blue Thunder.
In the films The New World from 2005 and Dora and the Lost City of Gold from 2019, she also played Pocahontas.
Kilcher reportedly suffered a neck and right shoulder injury in October 2018 while working on Dora, according to the insurance division.
According to the insurance department’s statement, Kilcher informed a doctor managing the insurance claim a year after the accident that she had been offered job but was unable to accept it due to excruciating neck discomfort from the accident.
Kilcher earned $96,838 in compensation for a temporary disability from 2019 to 2021.
Kilcher was eventually found to have worked on Yellowstone for many months in 2019 while she claimed to be incapacitated, according to an inquiry, the agency said.
In a statement issued earlier this year, the California Department of Insurance said, “According to records, she returned to the doctor and began claiming disability benefits five days after last working on the programme.”
According to the statement, Kilcher turned himself in and was charged in May.
Kilcher was a passenger in a production car when she was harmed, according to her then-attorney Michael Becker.
Her injuries and eligibility for benefits were confirmed by outside physicians. Ms. Kilcher never purposefully received benefits that she did not think she was entitled to, according to a statement from Becker. She was always open and honest with her medical professionals.
In the summer, Becker said that Kilcher will “vigorously defend herself” and request that she be given the presumption of innocence both inside and outside of the courtroom.
In 2005, Kilcher, just 15 years old, shot to fame as Pocahontas in the nominated movie The New World.
She next starred in The Power of Few before securing the lead part in Princess Kaiulani, a 2009 film in which she played the princess during the fall of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Alongside the troubled Cuba Gooding, who is accused of forceful touching and sexual assault, Kilcher also appeared in the films Neverland and Firelight.
Her most recent appearances were as the ex-wife of Channing Tatum in Dog and the TV series The Alienist.
According to Brown Rudnick LLP, “We are committed to defend Ms. Kilcher in this significant lawsuit which probes the fundamental problems in the disability compensation system.” “We seek to clear the name of Ms. Kilcher, a renowned and trailblazing actress in Hollywood.”