Lisa Wilkinson dumps Channel 10 lawyers in Bruce Lehrmann defamation case
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Lisa Wilkinson leaves Channel 10 lawyers and hires her own legal team to take on Bruce Lehermann as he sues over her coverage of the rape allegations made by Brittany Higgins.
- Lisa Wilkinson has fired Channel 10 lawyers
- She hired her own legal team and will foot the bill.
- Bruce Lehrmann sues over Brittany Higgins coverage
Lisa Wilkinson left her lawyers at Network 10 and hired a new legal team to defend her during the high-profile defamation case against Brittany Higgins’ accused rapist.
Bruce Lehrmann is suing the network over an interview broadcast on The Project in February 2021, where Ms Higgins first alleged to Wilkinson that she was raped by “a male colleague” at Parliament House in 2019.
According to a claim filed in Federal Court on February 7, Mr. Lehrmann will allege that Channel 10 and Wilkinson were “recklessly indifferent to truth or falsehood” when the allegations were made against them.
Specifically, it will be alleged that Wilkinson “sought to exploit the false allegations of sexual assault made by Ms. Higgins for his own personal and professional gain.”
Mr. Lehrmann, a former political staffer, strongly denies having sexual contact with Ms. Higgins.
Channel 10’s lawyers at Thomson Geer filed papers on Monday afternoon stating they would represent Wilkinson; however, new documents filed less than a day later said the deal was over.
Lisa Wilkinson (pictured with Brittany Higgins) has hired her own lawyers to represent her during the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial.
Federal court documents filed Tuesday indicated Wilkinson would be represented by Gillis Delaney Abogados and his partner Anthony Jefferies, the aussie informed.
He also retained defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou. Is it understood that Wilkinson will fund the legal team herself?
Ms Chrysanthou won libel payments for former NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, Clementine Ford in her case against The Sydney Morning Herald and Age, and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
Lehrmann’s lawyers at Mark O’Brien Legal also filed a statement of claim against News Life Media last Tuesday, an umbrella company of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation which runs news.com.au, for coverage that made the same allegations of Higgins.
The original television interview and online article about Ms Higgins’ allegations were published together.
The trial against Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) was derailed by juror misconduct
Lehrmann was not named during the television show or publicly identified as Higgins’ alleged rapist until August 2021, when he was indicted for sexual assault.
However, it is understood that his colleagues in Parliament House knew the allegations were against him prior to the criminal indictment.
Lehrmann pleaded not guilty during her rape trial in the ACT High Court in October last year. He has continually maintained his innocence.
The trial was aborted in November due to misconduct by a juror. The ACT’s director of public prosecution, Shane Drumgold SC, later dropped out of the trial entirely due to concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Daily Mail Australia understands that Mr Lehrmann gave Network 10 and news.com.au a settlement offer, but the media rejected the offer and vowed to fight the issues.