Lisa Wilkinson suing Ten over $700k legal costs in Lehrmann ...
Journalist Lisa Wilkinson is suing her employer Network Ten in an attempt to have ongoing legal costs of more than $700,000 paid immediately in the defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann.
Lehrmann sued Ten and Wilkinson in the Federal Court this year over an interview with his former colleague Brittany Higgins which was broadcast on The Project in February 2021.
Lisa Wilkinson, pictured in 2018, is suing Network Ten in the Supreme Court.Credit: Janie Barrett
He claims the broadcast defamed him by falsely suggesting that he raped Higgins in Parliament House in 2019. Lehrmann was not named, but has argued he was identifiable as the alleged rapist.
Ten and Wilkinson have previously indicated they will rely on the defences of truth and qualified privilege when the case begins on November 22. The network is represented by Dr Matt Collins, KC, while Wilkinson is separately represented by Sue Chrysanthou, SC.
In documents filed in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon, Wilkinson’s lawyers claim she has not had any of her legal costs covered so far, after Ten told her it would only reimburse her at the end of proceedings.
The lawyers argued this burdened Wilkinson with “having to find the ways and means to fund her defence” which has cost $723,555 so far. The legal bill was itemised as $353,538.88 up to May 30, and an additional $370,017 between May 31 and September 20.
Wilkinson and Ten are being sued over an interview with Brittany Higgins.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Wilkinson claimed in the document that she has not been paid for “any dollar” of the costs she incurred, and that Ten’s “pay later” position was not allowed.
The case will be mentioned for the first time on November 3 before Justice Michael Ball.
According to Wilkinson’s lawyers, the case will examine which legal costs and expenses she has a right to have covered and why, and if Ten’s obligation to absorb Wilkinson’s legal liability and her costs arises at the start or the end of a case.
Wilkinson has been a co-host of The Project since 2018 and signed a fresh contract with the network last year, which continued her employment to December 2024.
Her lawyers argue both contracts set out that Ten is required to take on any legal liability arising out of Wilkinson’s employment, including damages awarded against her, costs orders, and any reasonable legal costs incurred by her.
Bruce Lehrmann in Canberra earlier this year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Wilkinson’s lawyers claimed Ten initially resisted Wilkinson’s entitlement to be represented by a separate lawyer in the defamation case, until prominent barrister Bret Walker SC gave advice and the network accepted in March and June 2023 that it was liable to cover her costs.
When Ten accepted this, Wilkinson’s lawyers argue, the network’s solicitors then suggested the presenter had not provided enough detail of the costs she incurred, and that some of the work was “unreasonable” because it duplicated work Ten’s solicitors were doing.
It is claimed in Wilkinson’s document that when she provided more detail, Ten still did not pay.
Ten has not yet filed any documents in the case.
The case is the second Supreme Court stoush in three months involving Ten and one of its high-profile presenters. In July, Ten successfully sued former employee Peter Van Onselen for breaching a non-disparagement agreement by writing an opinion piece about the network’s financial woes.
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