Network Ten

A judge has criticised a Network Ten solicitor who signed off on former presenter Lisa Wilkinson’s Logies speech, given on the eve Bruce Lehrmann’s criminal trial, saying she had failed to appreciate her duties to the court.

A master chronology of the events on the night Bruce Lerhmann allegedly raped former policital staffer Brittany Higgins in Parliament House reveals federal police had concerns that Higgins may have been drugged.

A judge has questioned the relevance of an ex-Seven producer’s “sordid” evidence that the network rewarded him after using company funds to buy sex workers for the accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann, saying both sides had made strong arguments against his and Brittany Higgins’ credibility. 

A judge hearing Bruce Lehrmann’s reopened defamation trial has expressed concern about evidence regarding non-parties to the lawsuit, including a solicitor who is said to have acted for Seven, saying “allegations are being thrown around like a gatling gun”.  

A former Seven producer has given fresh evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial that he was alarmed when the accused rapist purchased cocaine and sex workers and agreed to give an interview to Spotlight as long as he was not asked about the night at the centre of the allegations.

A judge presiding over a defamation case by Bruce Lehrmann on Thursday asked lawyers for the Seven Network to explain why it had taken eight months to hand over communications with the accused rapist in answer to a subpoena by Ten. 

Author Peter FitzSimons is seeking costs from Bruce Lehrmann for complying with a subpoena in the former Liberal staffer’s defamation case against Network Ten and FitzSimons’ wife Lisa Wilkinson over the network’s airing of allegations that Lehrmann raped ex-colleague Brittany Higgins.

Did Bruce Lehrmann rape colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019? That is the primary question in the case to be decided by the Federal Court early next month, and the credibility of the two principal protagonists is central to answering that question.

A judge has found that Lisa Wilkinson acted reasonably in ditching Network Ten’s legal team in a defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann, noting the “distrust” between the presenter and her former employer as well as other matters, including a retainer Ten’s solicitors had with The Australian newspaper. 

A senior lawyer at Network Ten has told the court she was not embarrassed by legal advice given to Lisa Wilkinson in relation to her controversial Logies speech and denied she was “utterly ill-equipped” to play a role in Wilkinson’s defence, amid a stoush between the network and the presenter over her legal bill in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case.