Bruce Lehrmann’s staggering damages claim if his Channel 10 defamation lawsuit loss gets overturned

Bruce Lehrmann should be awarded well over a million dollars if he succeeds in overturning his devastating defamation loss to Channel Ten on appeal, his lawyer says.

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee earlier this year ruled in favor of the broadcaster and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in their high-profile multi-million dollar legal showdown with the former political staffer.

Judge Lee found that, on the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann raped former colleague Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in March 2019.

In his ruling, Judge Lee said that had Lehrmann been successful in the high-stakes lawsuit, he would have been awarded only a nominal amount of $20,000.

Lehrmann’s attorney Zali Burrows, in documents released by the court Thursday as part of a proposed appeal, described that estimate as inadequate and said he should be awarded a six- to seven-figure sum.

“$20,000 for a false rape allegation is clearly inadequate and (Lehrmann) should receive a seven-figure sum, or at least hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Burrows said.

Lehrmann has taken steps to overturn Judge Lee’s ruling on appeal, but Network 10 has asked the court to order that he post $200,000 bond.

This application for a bond – to cover Ten’s legal costs in the event that Lehrmann loses his appeal – is opposed by Ms Burrows.

Ten’s lawyer, Dr Matt Collins, branded two of Lehrmann’s grounds of appeal as ‘vaguely moot’ and the other two as ‘hopeless’.

Lehrmann has been receiving Centrelink benefits since January 1, 2022, according to court documents.

Ms. Burrows told the court this week that Lehrman was unable to post $200,000 bail and that his “only chance” to make money “is to go on OnlyFans or something like that.”

The case was heard in the Federal Court earlier this week, with Judge Wendy Abraham handing down her sentence at a later date.

Lehrmann is also seeking a stay of the $2 million costs order, which was issued against the ex-Liberal staffer after he was ordered to pay Ten’s legal costs for the trial.

In comments on Ten’s claim for costs, Ms Burrows claimed there was a ‘power imbalance’ between Ten and Lehrmann and described this as a ‘harsh bullying tactic’ to ‘undermine’ his profession.

Lisa Wilkinson successfully defended the lawsuit. Photo: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

She also argued that Ten would make more than $200,000 in advertising revenue by reporting on the appeal.

“The first defendant is a powerful media company and the amount of $200,000 they are demanding as security is subjectively not a significant amount they stand to lose if they succeed on appeal, noting that they are likely to make much more. in advertising revenue when reporting the appeal process on any of their programs or websites,” she said.

She said the trial was a “de facto rape trial” and that he had the right to “clear his name.”

‘Mr Lehrmann should have the right to clear his name and proceed with his appeal, without the intimidating tactics of costs against him, to end his right to clear his name because he is found to be a rapist, which is perhaps one of the worst and most damning findings that can be made against anyone,” Ms Burrows wrote.

In its own statements to the court, Network Ten argued that Mr Lehrmann’s difficulties in finding work are better attributed to his high-profile aborted criminal trial, followed by his high-profile defamation suit.

“To the extent that Mr. Lehrmann and the allegations against him have received extensive media attention since the termination of his criminal proceedings, which extended his unemployment, this is attributable to his decision to ‘back his hat’ to the defamation to start. proceedings below, with all the reporting that followed and the disastrous impact on his reputation that followed the outcome,” the submission said.

CCTV footage of Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins entering Linda Reynolds’ office.

‘Mr Lehrmann’s employability is also likely to be affected by the fact that in or around October 2023 it was determined that Mr Lehrmann was charged with two counts of alleged rape in Toowoomba in October 2021. In around July 2024, Mr Lehrmann was required to stand to keep. trial regarding these rape allegations.”

Lehrmann was tried in the ACT Supreme Court in 2022 after pleading not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.

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