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Bruce Lerman has been ordered to pay a multi-million bill for Ten’s legal costs in his doomed defamation case against the network as a judge declared there were “no real winners” in the case.
The former Liberal official suffered a huge legal loss in April when the Federal Court found that the allegation that he raped Brittany Higgins in a parliamentary office in March 2019 was most likely true.
The 28-year-old was sued for defamation over a February 2021 report on Ten’s The Project in which journalist Lisa Wilkinson interviewed Higgins about the rape allegation.
The parties have since been at loggerheads over legal costs and who should pay what is expected to be a significant legal bill for the long-running and high-profile case.
Judge Michael Lee on Friday ruled in favor of Ten’s application for costs for most of the trial.
“Ultimately it comes down to the costs order which best meets the overall justice in the circumstances,” he told the court.
“Ultimately, the proper exercise of discretion is to award that Network Ten recover its costs against Mr. Lehrmann on an indemnity basis, excluding costs incurred in connection with the statutory qualified privilege defense.”
“There are no real winners”
Indemnity costs are higher than ordinary costs, which typically allow 50 to 60 percent of the country’s legal costs to be recovered.
In explaining his decision, the judge said Lerman defended the criminal charge “on false grounds, lied to the police and then allowed that lie to go uncorrected before the jury.”
“He wrongly instructed his senior counsel to cross-examine a sexual assault complainant in two court proceedings, including, relevantly for present purposes, this case, under a knowingly false premise,” he said.
Lerman denies sexually assaulting Higgins and has not been convicted since a criminal trial was dismissed.
Judge Lee noted that there were “no real winners” in the case.
“Of course, with the predictability of the atomic clock, partisans have focused solely on those parts of the judgment that happen to be consistent with preconceptions,” he said.
“But the reality of the mixed findings has also been somewhat obscured by the defendants’ (Ten and Ms Wilkinson’s) public statements and their submissions on costs, which support the claim that they ‘won’ the litigation and that costs should axiomatically follow an event.” “
He accused Ten’s lawyers of going on a “victory tour” after the sentencing in April.
Lawyer Justin Quill had told reporters outside court that the decision “vindicated” Ten.
The judge also ordered Lerman to pay Wilkinson’s costs and asked her to send her costs to Ten to determine which areas were in dispute.
A referee will be appointed to check whether the journalist could have avoided unnecessary costs by the way she conducted her case.
Judge Lee did not allow Ten to recover the costs of preparing a series of affidavits because he said they did not help him make findings.
The total amount Lehrmann will have to pay will be determined at a hearing on May 27.
Earlier in the week, the court heard that Lerman has no financial backers and his lawyers have agreed that they do not need to be paid if he loses the case.
He has until May 31 to appeal the conclusion in the defamation case.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse Support and Compensation Service 1800 211 028
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