The eye-wateringly high legal bill the former Seven staffer who blew up the ... trends now

EXCLUSIVE

A former Channel Seven producer says he ran up a legal bill of almost $60,000 which he wants Bruce Lehrmann to pay the bulk of after giving evidence and producing documents in the defamation trial against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

Taylor Auerbach was on the team at Seven's Spotlight program when it secured exclusive interviews with Lehrmann, which aired in June and August last year.

In April, he managed to get Lehrmann's defamation case reopened when he swore four affidavits piled-high with allegations against the former Liberal staffer and his former employer.

Mr Auerbach claimed Seven reimbursed Lehrmann for those interviews with lavish dinners at fancy restaurants with $300 steaks, as well as covering his costs for prostitutes, Thai massages and cocaine.

Lehrmann specifically denied getting $10,000 worth of Thai massages on Seven's corporate credit card, prompting Mr Auerbach threatening to sue him for defamation.

He hired defamation solicitor Rebekah Giles, who charges $900-per-hour, and made those same claims on the witness stand in the Federal Court - racking up an enormous legal bill at the same time.

Lehrmann lost the defamation trial on April 15 when Justice Michael Lee found on a balance of probabilities that he had raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019, and is now liable for the legal costs of his opponents - including Mr Auerbach.