A verdict has been handed down in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial – but the case will be back in court in less than a week.
The former Liberal staffer lost the defamation case he brought against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, with Justice Michael Lee finding on Monday that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins on the minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019.
“As a result of the inconclusive criminal trial, Mr Lehrmann remains a man who has not been convicted of any offence, but he has now been found, by the civil standard of proof, to have engaged in a great wrong,” Lee said. “It follows Ms Higgins has been proven to be a victim of sexual assault.”
Having lost the case, Lehrmann now faces a potentially large legal bill.
How much could Lehrmann have to pay?
The case will be back in court on Monday 22 April for a hearing on costs, where Lehrmann may be ordered to pay Ten’s legal bill, possibly to the tune of $8m, on top of his own.
It is open to Lehrmann to appeal against the judgment, but Lee said if he were to win on appeal his damages would only be $20,000 “because he is only entitled to be compensated for the reputation he deserves”.
Defamation expert Peter Bartlett, a partner at MinterEllison and the lead solicitor for Nine in the Ben Roberts-Smith trial, estimates Ten’s bill to be $8m because the network was paying for three firms of lawyers.
“The Ben Roberts-Smith case, for example, ran for 110 days and the costs were some $30m,” Bartlett told the Guardian.
“This case went for 23 days but Channel Ten had three firms of lawyers and three different silks.”
Bartlett said Fairfax, now Nine Entertainment, was able to recoup its costs in the defamation case because Seven West Media’s billionaire chairman Kerry Stokes was funding the former soldier’s case.
“We got an order for indemnity costs out of Stokes, so that way we got all our money back,” he said. “Ten can’t do that.”
What if Lehrmann can’t afford the bill?
By all accounts Lehrmann is jobless, homeless and is lacking significant means to pay Ten’s costs, so having successfully defended the case, the network could be saddled with the bill.
Wilkinson, a former Project presenter, filed a cross-claim against Ten over a dispute about payment of more than $700,000 in legal costs, and won, so she will be for the most part covered by Ten.
All the outstanding issues, including Wilkinson’s cross-claim, will be decided next week.
Bartlett said Lee’s judgment will be very well received and many journalists will be jealous of his excellent turn of phrase.
“I think the judgment very clearly analysed all of the evidence,” Bartlett said. “He was in an impossible position, having all of those witnesses in the box, and he took the view that, you know, a lot of them were not telling entirely the truth.
“So he had a very, very difficult job. A job that no one would want, and he did it very, very well.”
Could there be more legal action against Lehrmann?
Lehrmann also faces potential prosecution by the ACT after he was found by Lee to have breached the Harman undertaking when he leaked material he received in his criminal trial to Seven for its Spotlight program.
Lee said this action was “seriously wrong” and reflects very poorly upon Lehrmann’s character.
“Consistently with the instructions provided to his lawyers, Mr Lehrmann gave evidence during the trial to the effect that he did not give documents to the Seven Network, he just gave an interview,” Lee said.
“As I explained at the trial, I am not some sort of roving law enforcement official, and if any issue concerning an alleged breach of the Hearne v Street obligation is to be pursued in relation to anyone, it will not be by me, and it will not be by this Court.”
As the material Lehrmann leaked to Spotlight was provided to him as part of an ACT supreme court trial, he is subject to the court’s rules.
Those rules mean a person could be charged with contempt of court if they give those documents to people outside his case “without reasonable excuse”, a spokesperson for the ACT’s justice agency said.
The decision over whether to prosecute Lehrmann with contempt of court now lies with the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, the same party that dropped the charges in 2022 after concern for Higgins’ mental health after the first trial was aborted due to jury misconduct.
Elsewhere, Lehrmann is facing two charges of rape relating to an incident in Toowoomba in October 2021 and a committal cross-examination has been set down for 17 June.
What about other cases?
Former Liberal minister Linda Reynolds is suing Higgins for defamation over an Instagram post that included a list of complaints against the senator. The Western Australia supreme court case is ongoing and is likely to head for trial after a closed-door mediation earlier this year failed.
Neither Lehrmann nor Higgins had commented on the judgment as of Tuesday afternoon.
Additional reporting by Sarah Basford Canales
