Bruce Lehrmann fights to appeal against bruising defamation suit loss

Bruce Lehrmann will return to court on Monday morning as he seeks to be allowed to launch his appeal against his devastating defamation suit loss without having to stump up a $200,000 surety.

The former Liberal staffer and now unemployed student is seeking to overturn Justice Michael Lee’s bruising findings after he lost his high stakes defamation lawsuit against Channel 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.

In a landmark decision handed down in April, Lehrmann was found, on the balance of probabilities, to have raped ex-colleague Brittany Higgins inside the ministerial office of Senator Linda Reynolds in Parliament House in March 2019.

He sued over Ms Higgins’ The Project interview in February 2021, however suffered a crushing loss before being ordered to pay Ten’s legal costs.

Lehrmann has appealed to the Full Court of the Federal Court but is fighting an application by Ten that he pay a $200,000 surety before he is allowed to launch his appeal.

As well, he is asking the court to stay an order that he pay $2m to Ten for their legal costs.

The matter will return to the Federal Court on Monday morning for an interlocutory hearing before Justice Wendy Abraham.

SECURITY

Ten’s lawyers earlier this year filed an application asking the court to order that Lehrmann deposit $200,000 as a security for their legal costs relating to the appeal.

Ten is asking Lehrmann to pay the surety and, if he does not, for the Federal Court to permanently stay the appeal proceedings.

The $200,000 is to secure Network 10’s legal costs in the event Lehrmann is not successful in his appeal.

THE $2 MILLION LEGAL BILL

Lehrmann’s solicitor Zali Burrows is also seeking an order for a stay on the $2m costs order made against Lehrmann.

In June, Lehrmann was ordered to pay Ten $2m for their legal costs following his failed defamation case.

The court was previously told Lehrmann could be forced into bankruptcy if he couldn’t meet the costs order, given he is now unemployed and a student.

GOING BACK FOR HIS HAT

Lehrmann lodged his appeal in May, having consistently denied sexually assaulting his former colleague.

Lehrmann initially lodged a notice of appeal himself.

But Ms Burrows later lodged an amended appeal which claimed Justice Lee was wrong to uphold Ten’s justification defence.

They also challenge Justice Lee’s findings that he would have been awarded just $20,000 in damages had he won.

The former Liberal staffer sued Ten and Ms Wilkinson over her interview with Ms Higgins on The Project in which the former political staffer said that she was raped by a former colleague.

In a landmark ruling, Justice Lee in April found, on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins, dismissing Mr Lehrmann’s lawsuit.

Justice Lee said “it is more likely than not” that Lehrmann was “so intent upon gratification to be indifferent to Ms Higgins’ consent, and hence went ahead with sexual intercourse without caring whether she consented.”

In commenting on Lehrmann’s decision to sue after criminal proceedings against him were withdrawn, Justice Lee said: “Having escaped the lions’ den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat.”

He faced trial in the ACT Supreme Court in 2022 after pleading not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.

The trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charges and plans for a retrial due to concerns for Ms Higgins’ welfare.