Here are some of the most important stories in the legal world for 2022. Although not necessarily the most harmful to the parties involved, each story has received significant media coverage and continues to dominate public consciousness even after technical resolution. We anticipate that their shockwaves will spread further in the new Year, setting the tone of many future developments in the legal landscape.
Johnny Depp v Amber Heard Defamation Trial
Celebrity trials can generate significant public interest and allow for a glimpse into the lives of otherwise inaccessible figures. The Depp–Heard trial was a success. It attracted international attention throughout 2022, and became one of the most prominent domestic violence cases ever.
Amber Heard wrote an opinion piece in December 2018 for the Washington Post about her 15-month marriage to Johnny Depp. She described herself as “a public figure resembling domestic abuse”. Depp sued Heard for $50 million in 2019. He claimed that the article’s reference to his alleged abuse was defamation. A separate libel suit was filed in 2020 against Heard for publishing an article that referred to Depp as a “wifebeater”. This further scandalized the matter. Depp was forced to quit key roles in films like ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ and other films due to the allegations and subsequent media coverage.
The defamation case opened on April 11, 2022. Depp’s lawyers called Heard a liar “obsessed”. Heard lawyers described Depp as “an obsessed ex husband hellbent upon revenge”. As proceedings progressed through the spring and summer, further anecdotes about the couple’s turbulent relationship were shared. The seven-member jury concluded the trial on June 1, finding that Depp and Heard had both defamed one another and that Heard could not support her abuse allegations. Depp was awarded $10.4 million total damages.
Celebrity trials can generate considerable public interest and provide a glimpse into the lives of otherwise obscure figures.
Although the outcome of the case did not have any impact on the financial fortunes of Depp or Heard, headlines were still generated during the proceedings. Research showed that the news coverage of the trial generated more social media engagement than articles about Supreme Court and reproductive rights, even though the fate of Roe V Wade was in doubt.
The Twitter Purchase Saga of Elon Musk
The $44 billion purchase by Elon Musk of Twitter would have been a straightforward transaction. It beat Google’s $1.5 billion acquisition YouTube. What could have been a simple share purchase became a complicated legal mess that attracted attention from social media watchers and news outlets worldwide.
The story began with contradiction statements about whether Musk, then Twitter’s largest shareholder at 9.2%, would be joining the company’s Board. The deal was sealed when Musk announced a stunning $54.20 per share offer to purchase the company, a 38% premium over its current price.
Musk tweet on May 13th that the deal was “onhold” citing concerns about spam accounts among Twitter users. Musk quickly moved to terminate the acquisition. Twitter filed a lawsuit against him in Delaware to force him either to complete the deal or pay a $1 million termination fee. After months of public spats, Musk attacked Twitter for misrepresenting its internal problems. Finally, he agreed to purchase the company on 28 Oct – one day before the Delaware trial.
This feature’s most recent story is the Twitter story. It has continued to raise new legal concerns long after the deal was closed. The mass sackings of Twitter employees triggered a class-action lawsuit in California. This was compounded by the likely regulatory flashbacks of the sacking and departure of nearly all compliance and content moderators staff. And, most recently, Musk’s Digital Markets Act clashing with Twitter’s legal problems will continue to make headlines well into 2023.
Dobbs and Jackson Women’s Health Organization
The 1973 Roe V Wadedecision was easily one of most important Supreme Court cases ever. It found that women’s rights to abortion were protected by the US Constitution, which laid the groundwork for legal recognition of reproductive rights in the United States. This ruling was a landmark in political culture wars and an integral protection of the bodily autonomy for women for over four decades. Its defeat by Dobbs/Jackson Women’s Health Organization made it all the more shocking.
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the case in March 2018 on behalf Jackson Women’s Health Organization. It concerns the state’s ban on abortion after 15 week of pregnancy, except in cases of severe fetal abnormalities or medical emergencies. The law was blocked by a federal district court the day it was signed. It was based on the fact that the law violated the longstanding precedent established by Roe v Wade. This position was also echoed by Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit in December 2019.
The Supreme Court was asked by the state of Mississippi to reconsider the ban. It decided to examine the question whether any pre-viability restrictions were constitutional. This marked the Court’s first case on the subject since Roe‘s passing. The ruling of the Supreme Court was issued on June 24, with a 5-4 majority finding that neither the Constitution nor privacy rights were included.
The historic ruling was already made with the unprecedented leaked draft memo about the Court’s opinion, which caused public outrage almost two months before its official announcement. The Supreme Court would be in even more trouble later in the year when it was revealed that Ginni Thomas (wife of Justice Clarence Thomas) had reached out to the staff of Donald Trump to urge the reverse of Arizona’s election results. However, the Dobbs decision had the greatest impact on the Court’s approval rating among the American public. The case, like Roebefore it is set to shape the political landscape and the lives millions of women for many years to come.