Why Lisa Wilkinson’s extraordinary decision to sue Network 10 is deeply personal… and remarkably trivial at the same time
EXCLUSIVE
Lisa Wilkinson hired her own team to defend her in the defamation case against Bruce Lehrmann after Network 10’s lawyer called her Logies speech on Sunrise “ill-advised.”
Mr Lehrmann launched civil proceedings against the network in February following a 2021 episode of Channel 10’s The Project in which Brittany Higgins alleged he raped her at Parliament House two years earlier.
He was not named on the broadcast but claims people in parliamentary circles were able to identify him as Ms Higgins’ alleged rapist. He has consistently denied the allegations.
Wilkinson was employed by Network 10 and had the right to use Thomson Geer, the law firm that retains the network, but she decided to employ Sue Chrysanthou SC and Gillis Delaney Lawyers partner Anthony Jefferies instead.
She has billed the network for more than $700,000 and is now suing the network for failing to pay the charges.
Now Daily Mail Australia understands she has chosen to hire her own team because Thomson Geer’s Matthew Collins SC criticized her during Seven’s Sunrise breakfast program on June 23, 2022 – the day after her Logies speech.
Four hours later, Network 10 hired him to fight the defamation case against Mr. Lehrmann.
Lisa Wilkinson hired her own team to defend her in the defamation case against Bruce Lehrmann (pictured giving her Logies speech)
In a conversation with Natalie Barr and David Koch, Dr. Collins said: ‘It is certainly possible that the authorities will look at the speech she gave to the Logies and judge that speech against the standard that applies in this branch of the law.
“That standard is: Does anything she does tend to disrupt the administration of justice?”
Dr. Collins had said he believed Wilkinson – who has been in the media industry for more than 40 years – should have known better than to make the speech she gave at the Logies.
“One would hope that when the media is considering running a story about a serious criminal trial about to begin, they would be aware of the potential risks,” he said.
“The mainstream media, guys, understand the risk inherent in talking about cases that are about to go to trial, especially high-profile cases. So this was clearly unwise.’
Dr. Collins had explained that anyone facing a serious charge was entitled to the presumption of innocence, which meant there should be no prejudice one way or the other.
“The concern is that potential jurors, whose job it is to apply the presumption of innocence and focus on the evidence at trial, could be influenced by things they have been exposed to in the media and on social media.”
Wilkinson hired her own team because defamation specialist Matthew Collins SC (pictured on Sunrise in June 2022) slammed her on the Seven Network breakfast program
Ms Higgins (right) claimed she was raped by a former colleague at Parliament House in 2019, in an interview with Lisa Wilkinson (left)
Wilkinson won her Logie for her interview with Ms Higgins and her speech was broadcast on national television just days before Mr Lehrmann’s jury trial was originally due to begin in the ACT Supreme Court.
She did not mention Mr. Lehrmann’s name in her speech, but she suggested the allegations against him were true.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum decided the speech could potentially bias jurors against Mr Lehrmann, moved the trial to October and directed heavy criticism at Wilkinson.
Earlier on Thursday it was revealed Wilkinson had filed a civil action in the NSW Supreme Court against Network 10 for legal costs.
According to court documents, her legal team claims that in March and June this year the channel accepted it was liable to compensate the TV star even if she was ‘independently represented’.
The network initially requested that Wilkinson’s legal costs be paid in bulk at the end of the trial so that they could add up any costs incurred in Mr Lehrmann’s favour.
Wilkinson’s lawyers said this was not reasonable as she would then have to pay for her own defense until she was reimbursed.
A spokesperson for Network 10 told Daily Mail Australia: ‘The lawyers engaged by Lisa Wilkinson have issued invoices for a very significant amount, in excess of $700,000, and in good governance these must be justified through due process.
“In the meantime, Network 10’s focus is on defending Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation claim.”
Wilkinson’s case against Network 10 begins in the NSW Supreme Court on November 3.
Two weeks later, on November 20, the defamation trial against Lehrmann begins in the Federal Court in Sydney.
Mr Lehrmann (pictured) has always denied having any sexual interaction with Brittany Higgins