Lisa Wilkinson (left),Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins.Credit:Getty Images,Dominic Lorrimer,Steven Siewert
Ten’s barrister,Zoe Graus,said there were “certainly costs which we do not dispute are recoverable by Ms Wilkinson”.
Loading
However,the court heard Ten disputed whether it should pay for multiple lawyers to attend court for Wilkinson during the cross-examination of witnesses on issues relating to the media parties’ successful truth defence,on which Ten took the lead.
On May 10,Lee ordered Lehrmann to pay Ten and Wilkinson’s multimillion-dollar costs of the truth defence on an indemnity basis,which covers about 90 per cent of a successful party’s legal bill. However,he said the former federal Liberal staffer should only be on the hook for the costs of their unsuccessful fallback defence of qualified privilege on an ordinary basis,which would cover about 70 per cent of their costs.
Risk of bankruptcy
The court has heard Lehrmann has been unemployed since June 2021 and is a law student,and there is a possibility he will be tipped into bankruptcy. It means the costs order against him is likely to be academic because he does not have the financial means to meet it.