Network Ten’s top litigator has finally admitted she was wrong to approve Lisa Wilkinson’s disastrous Logies speech.
Tasha Smithies’ humiliating apology was laid bare in an affidavit lodged at the Federal Court on Wednesday during a costs hearing for Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation suit against Network Ten and Wilkinson.
Smithies had told the court in February that he did not believe there was any problem with Wilkinson’s Logies acceptance speech before it was delivered at the awards ceremony in June 2022.
The speech was broadcast on television, eight days before Lehrmann’s rape trial, and was treated as a possible contempt issue because Wilkinson referred to Brittany Higgins as a proven rape victim and not an alleged rape victim.
As a direct result of that speech, the criminal trial was moved from June to October 2022 because the ACT Chief Justice was concerned jurors may have been exposed to intense publicity and formal bias against Lehrmann.
During a counterclaim at Lehrmann’s defamation hearing in February, Ms. Smithies refused to accept that her legal advice on the speech was deficient.
However, his affidavit reflected a significant change of opinion since Judge Michael Lee handed down his decision on the matter on April 15, which included findings about Wilkinson’s speech and Ms Smithies’ legal advice.
Network Ten’s senior litigator Tasha Smithies is pictured leaving court in February.
Pictured is Lisa Wilkinson delivering her Logies speech in June 2022.
She said: ‘The first instance ruling has had a profound and sobering impact on me. The 11 days since April 15, 2024 have been the most difficult of my career.
‘The day after the sentence was handed down, I took a week off to go with my family.
“I have read the judgment very carefully, especially the parts which refer to me and the advice I gave to Ms Wilkinson in relation to the speech she gave at the TV Week Logie Awards on 19 June 2022.”
He said the ruling in paragraph 1054 in particular “hits the mark.”
In paragraph 1054 of the judgment, Judge Lee said: “There has been plenty of time for mature reflection and yet there is no recognition, even now, that the speech could have undermined the administration of justice and caused its disruption. “.
‘It’s one thing to make a mistake, even a serious mistake; after all, to err is to be human.
“But I regret to say that Ms Smithies’ continued lack of understanding of the inappropriateness of her conduct in relation to the speech reflects, in my opinion, a failure to properly appreciate her professional obligations as a lawyer and her overriding duty to the Court and administration of justice.’
Smithies said he had “reflected deeply” on his legal advice to Wilkinson, the prejudice the speech caused and the impact it had on Lehrmann’s trial.
Bruce Lehrmann leaves court after the April 15 sentencing.
Lisa Wilkinson gave a speech outside court on April 15, after she and Network Ten won the case.
He has now sought advice from Network Ten’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC, on the advice he gave to Wilkinson, together with his evidence, and the conclusions Judge Lee made about his conduct.
He continued: “I honestly believed at the time that Ms Wilkinson’s delivery (of the speech) would not amount to contempt of court.
“I have come to understand that the evidence I presented on February 13 and 14, 2024 was misplaced.”
Ms Smithies was cross-examined by Wilkinson’s lawyer, Michael Elliott SC, in February in Wilkinson’s civil case against Network Ten, which was a counterclaim in Lehrmann’s defamation trial.
She sued the network for more than $700,000 in legal fees accrued when it hired defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou to defend her, rather than using Ten’s lawyers.
Wilkinson had claimed that the network did not have her best interests at heart, which her lawyers attempted to demonstrate when Ms Smithies was questioned.
Network Ten had initially refused to reveal whether it gave Wilkinson legal advice about the Logies speech, before confirming that she received legal advice but did not disclose the content of that advice.
Brittany Higgins is pictured with her fiancé David Sharaz. Judge Lee found that she had been raped by Bruce Lehrmann based on a balance of probabilities
The advice was only revealed during the countersuit in February.
Elliott accused Smithies of trying to hide the advice because it would be a source of public embarrassment for her if it were ever known that she gave the speech the go-ahead.
“I am not personally or professionally embarrassed by the advice that Mrs. Wilkinson gives me,” Mrs. Smithies had said.
Elliott also said Network Ten could have issued a press release to clear Wilkinson’s name during the fallout from the Logies speech, protecting her from intense public criticism.
“You knew very well that there was nothing to stop Channel Ten making a statement saying that Ms Wilkinson had received advice about the Logies speech,” he suggested.
Mrs Smithies said: “I don’t accept that.”
Mr Elliott continued: “Then you are absolutely ill-equipped to play any role in Ms Wilkinson’s defence.”
She replied: “I don’t accept that.”
Wilkinson’s countersuit was successful and the network was required to cover his legal costs.
In his findings on April 15, Judge Lee concluded, on a balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins in Parliament in March 2019.
At the costs hearing on Wednesday it will be determined how much Lehrmann, as the loser of the process, will have to pay his opponents.
