Journalist Lisa Wilkinson has won her court battle against Network Ten over who should pay her legal costs in the defamation action brought by former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
Usually, employers will cover employees’ costs of defending litigation that comes out of their employment. However, journalists in defamation cases are often represented by the same lawyers as their employers.
Wilkinson’s lawyer, Michael Elliot SC, said Ten had claimed it didn’t have to pay a “brass razoo” for Wilkinson’s separate team but that this had only become clear to Wilkinson and her team on “the virtual eve” of the defamation trial last year.
On Wednesday, the judge ruled that it was reasonable for Wilkinson to retain separate lawyers to represent her in the defamation trial because there were “differences in the interests” each sought to protect.
Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case
Last year, Lehrmann filed Federal Court proceedings against the network over The Project interview, which he has alleged defamed him by suggesting he was guilty of raping Brittany Higgins in 2019 in Parliament House. Lehrmann was never named in Higgin’s interview but his lawyers are arguing he was indirectly identified.
Wilkinson hired her own barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, to represent her in the defamation trial after losing faith in her employers.
In June 2022, Wilkinson delivered a Logies speech for The Project interview with Higgins, days before Lehrmann was due to face a criminal trial for Higgins’ alleged sexual assault. The speech praised Higgins’ “unwavering courage” and led to Lehrmann’s criminal trial being delayed for three months.
Following this, Wilkinson has said she received a wave of public scrutiny but felt abandoned by Network Ten. She told the court on Wednesday that although the network issued two public statements, she doesn’t believe they made it clear that her Logies speech had been approved at the highest levels, including by the network’s chief executive.
Five months after her Logies speech, in November 2022, Wilkinson was removed as a host of The Project but remained employed by Ten.
“I was shocked, embarrassed and deeply disappointed by Ms McGarvey’s [CEO of Network Ten] decision to remove me from The Project,” Wilkinson said in her affidavit published by the court.
Wilkinson also said that after she was removed, she realised the network was “not interested” in correcting the record that she had obtained advice from Ten to deliver the Logies speech.
Different interests
While the defamation case brought by Lehrmann is yet to be determined, Wednesday’s hearing between Wilkinson and Network Ten resulted in the network’s admission that it was reasonable for Wilkinson to choose to be legally represented separately.
This is not a case where Ms Wilkinson acted unthinkingly in retaining separate representation,” Justice Michael Lee said on Wednesday.
“In any event, it seems to me plain beyond peradventure that in all circumstances it was reasonable for Ms Wilkinson to retain separate lawyers.”
Wilkinson’s lawyer, Elliot, told the court their position had been “vindicated” and referenced Network Ten’s “capitulation” on the point “we’ve spent the last few months debating”.
“This is not just a capitulation, it’s an embarrassment, under which we have been led on a merry dance right back to where we started almost a year ago,” Elliott said.
In her initial statement of claim, Wilkinson put the cost of her legal bills at $700,000, but that has likely increased. With the defamation trial having begun, SMH has reported an estimated cost of over $2 million.