Bruce Lehrmann Weighs Legal Options in Shocking Decision After Judge Finds He Raped Brittany Higgins

Bruce Lehrmann is considering appealing a federal court ruling after a judge found he raped Brittany Higgins.

The move comes after she lost her defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson when Judge Michael Lee handed down his verdict at the Federal Court in Sydney on April 15.

The ruling found that Network Ten and Wilkinson did not defame Lehrmann in an interview with Higgins that aired on The Project in February 2021, where a former Liberal staffer claimed she was raped by an unnamed colleague in Parliament two years earlier.

Lehrmann claimed that friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. He has always maintained his innocence.

He has since appointed a legal team led by prominent barrister Guy Reynolds SC to appeal against Judge Lee’s ruling. The Australian reported..

Lerhmann is reportedly looking to raise funds from donors in Australia and overseas to cover legal costs as he is currently unemployed.

Mr Reynolds is understood to be confident that an appeal against Ten and Wilkinson’s genuine case will be successful and could result in Ten meeting some costs.

Previous clients include Eddie Obeid, Man Haron Monis, Mick Gatto and Peter Dutton.

Lehrmann has 28 days to file an appeal against the Federal Court ruling.

The appeal plan is likely to be outlined when the first costs hearing is held at the Federal Court on Wednesday.

The hearing will consider the issue of costs, with Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson applying for a costs order against Lehrmann.

It is also understood that Lehrmann could consider requesting an extension to the 28-day appeal period, as Ben Roberts-Smith initially did.

Lawyers familiar with the ruling believe there is one legal issue that any challenge will focus on: news.com.au reported.

That question relates to what Judge Lee calls “the knowledge element,” which depends on his reasoning that he was convinced that Lehrmann knew that Ms. Higgins was not consenting.

Judge Lee concluded that on the balance of probabilities, the standard of proof in civil proceedings, Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins in the office of former Defense Minister Linda Reynolds.

Following the ruling, Channel Ten told the court that Lehrmann should pay his legal costs, which amount to more than $10 million.

Lehrmann argued against the lawsuit and said he is only responsible for part of the legal costs since Judge Lee ruled that the broadcaster engaged in negligent conduct when the episode of The Project aired.

Judge Lee also ruled that Ms. Wilkinson and the network failed to meet their qualified privilege defense.

This means that, considering all probabilities, the broadcaster and Ms Wilkinson did not meet the required standard of publishing the story about the allegations against Lehrmann, in a reasonable way that would make it relevant to the public interest.

Comments made by Ten’s lawyer Justin Quill can also be mentioned at the costs hearing, after Quill addressed the media following Judge Lee’s ruling.

He praised the outcome of the ruling which he said was a resounding victory for Network Ten.

Judge Lee ordered copies of Quill’s comments after the attorney, who is also a partner at law firm Thomas Greer, challenged parts of the ruling.

“In terms of the reasonableness of Channel Ten, the way in which judges and lawyers – and this is the problem with defamation law in Australia – the way in which judges and lawyers separate and analyze what journalists did or did not do they did by applying a legal threshold “The legal test of reasonableness is often divorced from reality,” he said.

“And that’s why the defense of qualified privilege rarely stands up.”

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