Carmel Galati

Senator Linda Reynolds has admitted she gave incorrect evidence at Bruce Lehrmann’s criminal trial concerning the day he allegedly raped Brittany Higgins, saying it was her “best recollection” at the time. 

Senator Linda Reynolds has asked the court for leave to issue a subpoena to HWL Ebsworth’s chief executive partner for correspondence leading up to the Commonwealth’s $2.4 million settlement with Brittany Higgins over the government’s handling of her rape allegations. 

Senator Linda Reynolds has faced cross-examination over her messages with accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann’s senior counsel ahead of his criminal trial, with the court hearing the barrister told her “s**t is going to get real soon” and “karma comes to those who wait”. 

Senator Linda Reynolds has testified that counsel for accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann told her it “wasn’t appropriate” to share the transcript from criminal proceedings against his client, which Reynolds sought to aid in her defence of civil claims by Brittany Higgins.

Senator Linda Reynolds has admitted that she leaked a confidential letter from the Commonwealth’s solicitors to a reporter at The Australian concerning Brittany Higgins’ claims about the handling of her rape allegations, calling the letter’s confidentiality a “legal nicety” that she didn’t understand.

From the ongoing saga of the high-profile Christian Porter action against the ABC to “backyard” litigation testing the serious harm bar, defamation cases made headlines in 2022, with winners and losers alike shelling out millions to lawyers to protect their reputations.

The state of Western Australia has been left with a $2 million legal bill for defending a defamation action  by billionaire Clive Palmer and advancing cross-claims on behalf of premier Mark McGowan, which a judge blasted as “a futile exercise”.

A court has awarded Western Australia premier Mark McGowan and mining billionaire Clive Palmer paltry sums in their defamation battle, with a judge finding that Palmer suffered “very little damage” to his reputation.

A judge who has been an enthusiastic lab rat in the virtual hearing experiment forced on the country’s courts by the COVID-19 pandemic has expressed doubts that he is accurately reading witnessses giving remote evidence.

Western Australia premier Mark McGowan has been ordered to appear in person in a Sydney court to give evidence at trial in a defamation case by mining billionaire Clive Palmer, but a judge has pushed back the hearing so McGowan can attend state parliament.