Lawyers for former attorney-general Christian Porter say a case to remove his barrister from his defamation battle with the ABC is "a storm in a teacup".
Mr Porter is suing the public broadcaster and journalist Louise Milligan in the Federal Court for a story about an anonymous letter being sent to the Prime Minister, attached to a 31-page dossier detailing a historical rape allegation from 1988 levelled against a serving Cabinet minister.
The article, published in February, did not name the Attorney-General as the subject of the complaint, but Mr Porter's legal team claim he was easily identifiable.
He has strenuously denied the allegation and his lawyers argue he has been the subject of "trial by media".
The case has already become bogged in a debate over whether the bulk of the ABC's defence should be allowed in the case.
But before that can be considered, the court is considering an application from a friend of the deceased complainant, Joanne Dyer.
Argument over Porter's lawyer
Ms Dyer claims Mr Porter's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC has a conflict of interest and should be removed from the case.
On Monday the court heard Ms Dyer had consulted Ms Chrysanthou, alongside several other solicitors, when she was considering a possible defamation case about a story in The Australian newspaper.
The article was written after Ms Dyer appeared on the ABC's Four Corners program.
In court documents tendered to the Federal Court, Ms Dyer's lawyers say their client fears the confidential information she gave to Ms Chrysanthou during that meeting could be used against her.
"Ms Dyer will be called by the ABC as a witness in Mr Porter's defamation proceedings. She is therefore likely to be subject to cross-examination by counsel for Mr Porter.
"The applicant is at real risk of being at a disadvantage or suffering detriment as a witness in that proceeding if Ms Chrysanthou continues to act for Mr Porter."
'Storm in a tea cup"
On Monday, Ms Dyer's lawyers told the court there were clear correlations between Mr Porter's case and Ms Dyer's discussions with Ms Chrysanthou.
But Mr Porter's barrister Christopher Withers argued the information discussed in the meeting with Ms Chrysanthou was already known elsewhere.
He said the meeting between the two women was brief, and Ms Chrysanthou did not charge Ms Dyer for her time.
"There is no risk of misuse, or supposed misuse of this information … which we say is in the public domain anyway," Mr Withers told the court.
The hearing into whether Ms Chrysanthou should be restrained from acting for Mr Porter has been set down for three days.
