Coleen Rooney flashed a tired smile on Wednesday after undergoing a grueling training session, after inflicting another court defeat on Rebekah Vardy over her £1.8million legal bills from Wagatha Christie.
The WAG, 38, cut a casual figure as she left the gym, dressed in a pair of tight leggings and a black raincoat.
She grabbed a puffer jacket and a bottle of water and tied her hair in a messy bun, looking exhausted but pleased.
Wayne Rooney’s wife has faced a stressful past week, after she was dragged back to court by Rebekah, who wants to halve the £1.8m legal bill he faces.
Rebekah, married to Wayne’s former Three Lions teammate Jamie Vardy, lost legal action in July 2022, after suing Coleen over allegations of leaking stories.
Coleen Rooney flashed a tired smile on Wednesday after undergoing a grueling training session, after inflicting another court defeat on Rebekah Vardy over her £1.8million legal bills from Wagatha Christie.
The WAG, 38, cut a casual figure as she left the gym, dressed in a pair of tight leggings and a black raincoat.
She grabbed a puffer jacket and a bottle of water and tied her hair in a messy bun, looking exhausted but pleased.
She is now demanding a 50 per cent reduction in the settlement as Coleen was alleged to have been charging for a lawyer’s stay at a five-star Nobu hotel.
Coleen accused Rebekah in 2019 of sharing her private social media information with the press, an allegation which Judge Steyn later ruled was “substantially true”.
And in October 2022, the judge ordered Rebekah to pay 90 per cent of her fellow WAGs’ legal costs, with an initial payment of £800,000.
But the women’s lawyers have returned to the London courts this week in a dispute over the amount to be paid, as Rebekah’s lawyers said the legal bill claimed by Coleen amounted to £1,833,906.89.
Rebekah’s lawyers argued that the opposing legal team’s estimate of her costs for expenses including a luxury hotel and a hotly disputed minibar bill was deliberately misleading and that this justified a reduction in the amount she had to pay.
But on Tuesday, Coleen scored another victory over her rival, as a judge ruled the bill had been legitimately incurred.
Coleen’s lawyer, Robin Dunne, said there had been “no misconduct” and it was “illogical to say we misled anyone”.
His legal team denied claims that his spending on the case was “extravagant” and attacked reports that one of his lawyers stayed at the Nobu Hotel, a favorite of A-list celebrities.
Wayne Rooney’s wife has faced a stressful past week, after she was dragged back to court by Rebekah, who wants to halve a £1.8million legal bill she faces.
Rebekah (pictured in 2022), married to Wayne’s former Three Lions teammate Jamie Vardy, lost legal action in July 2022, after suing Coleen over allegations of leaking stories.
Coleen accused Rebekah in 2019 of sharing her private social media information with the press, an allegation Judge Steyn later ruled was “substantially true” (pictured in 2022).
They told the High Court that the hotel stay had been falsely presented as a “decadent scene from Caligula” but was obtained for about the price of a room at a Premier Inn.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker concluded “on the whole and, I must say, only narrowly”, that Coleen’s legal team had committed no wrongdoing and therefore “it was not appropriate “reduce your legal bill. .
Gordon-Saker said that while there was a “lack of transparency”, it was not “sufficiently unreasonable or inappropriate” to constitute misconduct.
Rebekah’s lawyers told the High Court in written submissions that some of Coleen’s legal costs were “extraordinary”, including money for a lawyer who was staying “at the Nobu Hotel, incurring substantial expenses for dinner and drinks, as well as minibar charges”.
But Mr Dunne said one of Coleen’s lawyers only stayed at the hotel because of a problem with her original booking elsewhere.
The court heard that Coleen’s lawyer, Paul Lunt, a partner at Liverpool-based law firm Brabners, remained at Nobu during the nine-day defamation battle with Rebekah in 2022.
Mr Dunne told the court: ‘(The solicitor) did not book the Nobu hotel. He booked a modest hotel, but the first night he was there there was no WiFi or shower.
“The defendant’s agent offered him to stay at Nobu, which has a preferential rate.”
But the women’s lawyers have returned to the London courts this week in a dispute over the amount to be paid, as Rebekah’s lawyers said the legal bill claimed by Coleen amounted to £1,833,906.89 (Rebekah and Jamie Vardy in 2022).
Rebekah’s lawyers argued that the opposing legal team’s estimate of her costs for expenses including a luxury hotel and a hotly disputed minibar bill was deliberately misleading and that this justified a reduction in the amount she had to pay (in the photo of the Nobu hotel).
But on Tuesday, Coleen scored another victory over her rival, as a judge ruled that the bill had been legitimately incurred, saying Coleen’s legal team had committed no crime and was therefore “not appropriate.” reduce your legal bill (Coleen pictured on Monday). evening)
He added that the food and minibar bill amounted to £225, but said the minibar bill “came to £7 and two bottles of water”.
The solicitor went on to say that the solicitor paid £295 per night to stay at the hotel when current rates are over £600 per night.
Dunne said Rebekah’s lawyers were trying to give the impression that their client’has been profligate in its expenditures in this litigation,” but said he gave a “misleading and factually inaccurate” explanation.
Jamie Carpenter KC, for Rebekah, said in response to Mr Dunne’s account of the breakdown of expenditure: “We say the defendant’s costs are extravagant, but line-by-line issues are for another time.”
But Mr Dunne said in his writings that Rebekah had shown “deplorable conduct” throughout the case, and added: “Ms Vardy feels ill now claiming that Ms Rooney’s costs, many of which were caused by Directly by their conduct, they are not reasonable.’
The hearing deals with issues of principle ahead of a line-by-line costs assessment, which will take place at a later date.
The hearing before Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker, which neither Coleen nor Rebekah attended on Tuesday, is expected to conclude on Wednesday.