Kurtley Beale’s $300k legal bill battle could be repaid by taxpayers

Rugby star Kurtley Beale will pursue taxpayers for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he accrued in legal fees fighting his sexual assault case — and the bill could top $300,000.

Rugby star Kurtley Beale will pursue taxpayers for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent on legal fees.

A jury took just eight minutes on Friday to find the former Wallabies star not guilty of forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him at Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel in 2022.

Beale, 35, retained barrister Margaret Cunneen SC and solicitor Lauren MacDougall for the two-week trial, and the case will now return to court on April 5 for a costs hearing.

Legal insiders estimated their bill to Beale, which he will apply to claim back from state coffers, will top $300,000.

“Margaret would have cost about $150-$200,000 for the trial and preparing for it,” one insider said. “Then there’s the solicitor’s fees that would be in the vicinity of $80-$100,000.”

Kurtley Beale flanked by members of his legal team Margaret Cunneen SC (left) and Lauren MacDougall.

But the legal bills have the potential to stretch beyond the trial.
“It goes back to the very beginning,” another insider said.

“The committal, court appearances, everything.”

The amount of costs potentially awarded to Beale are dictated by the Costs in Criminal Cases Act.

Under the act, an account of the costs will be submitted to the Director General, who will then decide how much is payable.

Costs are paid to a person in Beale’s position if the judge hearing the case is of the opinion that it was not reasonable to launch the proceedings on the strength of the evidence.

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