Bruce Lehrmann’s staggering seven-figure bill laid bare after crushing court defeat: How much a homeless, jobless rapist will have to pay – and his only silver lining

Bruce Lehrmann’s legal costs could exceed $2 million after losing his successful defamation trial against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

In the Federal Court on Monday, Judge Michael Lee found that Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins, who was highly intoxicated, inside Parliament House in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

It was a devastating blow for the former Liberal staffer turned law student who has been out of work since early 2021, when Higgins first went public with her allegations in an interview with Wilkinson on The Project.

Lehrmann was not named in that broadcast, but launched a defamation action in an attempt to clear his name, an effort that failed spectacularly when Judge Lee branded him a sex offender, unreliable witness and liar in his three-hour trial.

The defeat means he now has to worry about covering the costs of Network Ten and Wilkinson’s lawyers.

Your only saving grace might be that you don’t have to worry about paying your own lawyers because they work on a no-win, no-fee basis.

The exact figure owed to Ten and Wilkinson will be determined at a later date, with Judge Lee marking April 22 as the deadline for costs to be submitted.

But it will probably be a seven-figure sum.

Wilkinson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, alone charges $8,000 a day and her total bill was worth more than $700,000 in October, two months before the month-long defamation hearing.

Since then, Ms Chrysanthou attended court almost every day of the month-long hearing in December. Her price is now likely worth more than $1 million.

There are also legal costs for both parties and the fees of Network Ten’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC.

The total cost of the case is estimated at $10 million.

Outside court on Monday, Ten’s lawyer, Justin Quill, said he is confident the network will be able to recover some of the costs.

And speaking on Sunrise on Tuesday morning, Quill explained that the judge had requested submissions from both sides about their costs before deciding who should pay what.

“That order… I would be reasonably certain would be in Ten’s favor and perhaps on an indemnity basis, meaning Ten would be entitled to recover all of its costs,” he said.

“Whether they will be able to recover those costs is another matter and will largely depend on Bruce Lehrmann’s means.”

The state of Lehrmann’s finances is unknown, but he is currently unemployed and is assumed to be couch surfing with no fixed address.

If you can’t find a way to pay your bills, you may have to file for bankruptcy.

During his sentencing on Monday, Judge Lee said: “To say that Mr. Lehrmann was a poor witness is an understatement.”

“His attachment to the truth was tenuous, informed not by fidelity to his claim but by the shaping of his responses into what he perceived to be his forensic interests.”

Judge Lee found that Lehrmann took Ms Higgins back to a “secluded place”, the ministerial suite, after a night out with colleagues in order to have sex with her.

“Mr Lehrmann was intent on having sexual relations with a woman he found sexually attractive, he had kissed and touched her passionately, he had encouraged her to drink and he knew he had lowered her inhibitions because she was so drunk,” he said.

“I am convinced that it is most likely that Mr. Lehrmann’s mental state was such that he was so focused on gratification that he was indifferent to Ms. Higgins’ consent.”

Lehrmann was tried for sexual assault in the ACT Supreme Court in October 2022, but the case was overturned due to misconduct by a juror.

The former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions later dropped the charge against her, citing concerns for Ms Higgins’ mental health.

He had pleaded not guilty.