Good morning, Brittany! Higgins lands in Australia and arrives in the courtroom to confront Linda Reynolds flanked by her fiancé David Sharaz in a Ralph Lauren knit tie.

Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz landed in Australia for a two-day showdown with Linda Reynolds.

Senator Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins, her former employee and Mr Sharaz for defamation in the Washington Supreme Court over posts each made on social media that she claims damaged her reputation.

The couple arrived at court Tuesday morning, flanked by attorneys, for the first day of mediation talks.

Judge Marco Salomón He is said to be so concerned about the matter going to trial that he may participate in the mediation session scheduled to begin in Perth on Tuesday.

If Judge Solomon participates in court-ordered mediation and the parties cannot reach an agreement, he will not be able to preside over the six-week defamation trial in July.

Ms Reynolds’ defamation case centers on tweets by Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz which she claims imply that she pressured Ms Higgins not to proceed with a police report about the alleged rape and that interfered with Mr. Lehrmann’s trial.

More to come