Amber Heard's lawyers have a good chance of winning over the jury despite being mocked on social media, legal experts say

• Amber Heard's legal team has faced widespread mockery on social media.
• However, the team has performed well and stands a fair chance against Johnny Depp, two experts say.

Despite facing widespread mockery online, Amber Heard's legal team has been "very competent" in the defamation trial over Johnny Depp's lawsuit against her, according to lawyers who have been commentating on the trial on YouTube.

When the trial began on April 12, fans of Depp rallied around the actor on social media, showing support for his abuse claims against Heard — which she denies — and villainizing her with memes and insults.

Depp appears to be the internet's favorite to win, with the hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp receiving 12 billion views on TikTok, while #JusticeForAmberHeard has just 44 million views.

Heard's legal team has also come under scrutiny from Depp fans online, who have called her lead attorney, Benjamin Rottenborn, a "clown" and criticized Elaine Bredehoft, another lawyer in the case, by suggesting they find her unlikeable and incompetent.

Despite widespread mockery on social media, the California lawyer Alina Mazeika, who livestreams the trial daily on her YouTube channel, told Insider she thought Heard's lawyers had been doing an admirable job.

"I do think that both sides are very competent," she said, adding that Heard's team seemed to have "found their groove" after appearing to take some time to settle into working on this high-profile case.

In particular, Mazeika said she thought Rottenborn "has done some very effective cross-examinations of some of Johnny Depp's witnesses," adding that he "has had some successes in being able to cut off the witness where necessary and maintain that control over the narrative that comes out through that witness."

But there have been some "unforced errors" — a legal term that describes avoidable mistakes — made by Heard's team, Emily D. Baker, a former Los Angeles district attorney and current YouTuber, said. The moment that one of Heard's lawyers, Adam Nadelhaft, appeared to object to his own question when trying to strike something from the record was a significant example that drew intense criticism on social media.

"It does happen in court where you get flustered or you stumble over your words in the middle of something, and it normally doesn't happen streaming to millions and millions of people," Baker told Insider, adding: "But it was absolutely the wrong objection."

Bredehoft has also made errors in court, Baker said, such as when she called her client "Laura Amber Heard," instead of her actual name, Amber Laura Heard. That also drew criticism from avid trial watchers.

"She called her client by the wrong name. And I think these are moments when people are thinking, 'Is she incompetent?' But I don't think any of these attorneys are incompetent. I think they're dealing with a high-profile case and various forms of stress," Baker said.

She said that "the internet seems to have turned very quickly on Amber Heard," adding: "Anything her lawyers do is going to be held up to a different scrutiny than anything that Depp's lawyers do."

The jury, which is not permitted to read social-media discussions about the trial, might not take as much of an issue with mistakes made by Heard's lawyers, according to Baker, who said that "light moments" and errors might make Heard's team seem more "relatable" and "endearing" to jurors.

Overall, the lawyers told Insider that while Depp appeared to have won the court of public opinion, both celebrities stood an equal chance when it came to their defamation cases.

"I still think it's a very real possibility where the jury says, 'Neither of you defamed the other because things you are both saying are true,'" Baker said.

Mazeika said, "They both could end up not having enough evidence in the case to win."

The trial is in its fifth week. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over an essay she wrote in 2018 in which she said was a victim of intimate partner violence. Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim. Both parties have made allegations of abuse against each other and denied being the abusers in the relationship.

Representatives for Depp, Heard, Rottenborn, and Bredehoft did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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