Celebrity Johnny Depp is reportedly dating attorney from his U.K. libel lawsuit A source tells PEOPLE the actor and Joelle Rich "are dating but it's not serious." By Jessica Wang Jessica Wang Jessica is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, and more. She lives in California with her dog. EW's editorial guidelines Published on September 22, 2022 04:48PM EDT Johnny Depp's legal saga continues with an unexpected development. The actor is reportedly dating one of his attorneys, Joelle Rich, from his 2020 U.K. libel lawsuit against The Sun. "They are dating but it's not serious," a source told PEOPLE. EW has reached out to Depp's representatives and Rich for comment. The London-based lawyer represented Depp when he sued The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater" in a news article centered on ex-wife Amber Heard's allegations of domestic violence. He lost the case in November 2020, with the court upholding the accusations as "substantially true." His attempt to overturn the verdict was overruled. Rich did not represent Depp in his defamation lawsuit against Heard in the U.S. earlier this summer, but she did make several appearances at the courthouse in Fairfax County, Va., during the trial. Joelle Rich and Johnny Depp outside the Virginia courthouse in May. Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images The Pirates of the Caribbean actor was represented by Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew in the U.S. case, which he won in June. A jury concluded that Heard intentionally and maliciously defamed Depp when she wrote a 2018 Washington Post op-ed identifying herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse. Heard's team filed to appeal the verdict in July after a motion for a mistrial was denied. "We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment," a spokesperson for Heard said. "We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today's filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice." When reached for comment on the appeal, a spokesperson for Depp told EW, "The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp in multiple instances. We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand." Related content: Johnny Depp's defamation trial against Amber Heard will be the subject of a new movie Amber Heard's sister slams MTV for 'desperate' Johnny Depp cameo at the VMAs Amber Heard hires new lawyers to appeal verdict in Johnny Depp defamation trial