Rebekah Vardy has lost her latest challenge over spiralling legal costs in the Wagatha Christie libel trial as they grapple over a £1.8million bill for Coleen Rooney’s lawyers.
Ms Vardy lost the high-profile libel action in 2022 and was previously ordered to pay the sum to cover 90 per cent of Ms Rooney’s legal costs.
But lawyers for the media personality, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, disputed the amount, arguing in the High Court last month that Ms Rooney had deliberately understated her costs at an earlier hearing.
Ms Vardy's barristers previously told a costs judge that Ms Rooney and her legal team committed “serious misconduct” by understating some of her costs to “attack the other party’s costs”. A judge found no misconduct had been committed.
Appealing that decision last month, Jamie Carpenter KC said Ms Rooney “very substantially understated” her legal costs by around 40 per cent in her budget in a document called “precendent H” 2021, in written submissions for Ms Vardy.
He said: "At all times throughout the costs budgeting process, Mrs Rooney concealed from Mrs Vardy and the court that the incurred costs in her precedents H were much less than her true incurred costs.”
Mr Carpenter said a “proportionate sanction” for the alleged misconduct would be to limit the amount of Ms Rooney’s legal costs up to August 2021 to be paid by Ms Vardy to £220,955.07.
In his written submissions, Benjamin Williams KC, for Ms Rooney, said her budget was “properly and correctly completed” and there was “no tenable case” of misconduct.
In a judgment handed down on Thursday, High Court judge Mr Justice Cavanagh dismissed Ms Vardy’s appeal, ruling Ms Rooney’s lawyer’s did not commit misconduct.
In a 38-page ruling, he found that Judge Gordon-Saker had "ample material" to reach his decision, adding that there was "no valid basis for challenging on appeal the judge's conclusion".
He said: "The court was not persuaded that the claimant had proved that the defendant's legal advisers had deliberately misled the court, or the claimant, either by things said or things not said.”
In 2019 Ms Rooney, who is married to former England captain Wayne Rooney, accused Ms Vardy, a former I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! contestant, of leaking her private information to the press on social media.
A judge found her claims were “substantially true” in July 2022, after Ms Vardy unsuccessfully sued her for libel in a high profile trial.
The judge later ordered Ms Vardy to pay 90 per cent of Ms Rooney’s costs, including an initial payment of £800,000.
The hearing in October was told that Ms Rooney’s claimed legal bill – £1,833,906.89 – was more than three times her “agreed costs budget of £540,779.07”, which Mr Carpenter said was “disproportionate”.
In a separate ruling on Thursday, Ms Vardy largely lost a bid for access to more documents in relation to costs.
Her lawyers asked the court in February to order Ms Rooney’s team to hand over “privileged” documents, details about her claim for VAT, and further information about retainers between Ms Rooney and her solicitors.
Ms Rooney’s lawyers resisted the bid, describing it as a “fishing expedition”.
On Thursday, Senior Costs Judge Mark Whalan said he was “not persuaded” Ms Vardy’s lawyers should be allowed to inspect VAT documents, or other privileged material.
But he ruled they should be allowed to see a redacted retainer between Ms Rooney and her solicitors.
Judge Whalan also ordered Ms Vardy to pay almost £11,000 of costs of the application, stating that he must “conclude realistically” that it “is the defendant and not the claimant” who had been successful.
After the rulings, a spokesperson for Ms Vardy said: “In terms of the two judgments today, we are gratified disclosure has been obliged in one ruling whilst being respectfully disappointed that, in the other judgment, our appeal was not successful.
“Now we just wish to move on and look to the future. We will be making no further comment at this time.”
Harry meets war victims in Ukraine during unannounced visit
Benn ‘taking steps’ to ensure ICRIR can investigate Sean Brown murder
Influencer Andrew Tate accused of pointing gun at woman's face ahead of London civil case
What Tony Blair told Keir Starmer about how to deal with Donald Trump
