Bruce Lehrmann's staggering seven-figure bill is exposed after crushing court ... trends now
Bruce Lehrmann's legal costs could exceed $2million after losing his blockbuster defamation trial loss against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
In the Federal Court on Monday, Justice Michael Lee found that Lehrmann did rape a highly-intoxicated Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House in the early hours of March 23, 2019.
It was a crippling blow for the former Liberal staffer-turned-law student who hasn't had a job since early 2021, when Ms Higgins first went public with her allegations in an interview with Wilkinson on The Project.
Lehrmann wasn't named in that broadcast but launched defamation action over in a bid to clear his name - an effort that spectacularly backfired when Justice Lee's slammed him as a sex offender, an unreliable witness, and a liar in his three-hour judgement.
The defeat means he now has to worry about covering the costs for Network Ten and Wilkinson's lawyers.
His one saving grace could be that he does not have to worry about paying his own solicitors because they worked on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Bruce Lehrmann is pictured collecting dog poop on the balcony of his former Sydney home in December last year
Brittany Higgins is pictured with her fiancé, David Sharaz. On Monday, a judge found her rape allegations against Bruce Lehrmann to be true
The exact figure owed to Ten and Wilkinson will be determined at a later date, with Justice Lee marking April 22 as the due date for costs submissions.
But it will likely be a seven-figure sum.
Wilkinson's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC alone charges $8000 a day and her total bill was worth more than $700,000 in October - two months before the actual month-long defamation hearing.
Since then, Ms Chrysanthou attended court for almost every day of the month-long hearing in December. Her costs are likely now
