Bruce Lehrmann hires top defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien, amid potential legal action against Lisa Wilkinson, ABC
One of Australia’s top defamation lawyers will be working with Bruce Lehrmann, who is considering legal action against multiple media outlets.
Bruce Lehrmann has hired one of Australia’s top defamation lawyers to examine the prospects of legal action against multiple media outlets including Channel 10’s The Project and the ABC for broadcasting live a speech by Brittany Higgins at the press club with Grace Tame.
Sydney defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien, whose law firm represents Ben Roberts-Smith VC in his defamation battle with Fairfax/Nine newspapers, has confirmed this morning that he has now joined the former Liberal staffers legal team.
No concerns notices have been sent to date, as lawyers examine a large volume of media reports and public speeches over the last two years.
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Mr Lehrmann was not named in original media reports but his legal team are examining whether he was nevertheless able to be identified.
The former Liberal staffer was not named until August, 2021 when he was charged by police with one count of sex without consent. He pleaded not guilty, has always maintained his innocence and said no sex occurred.
It comes amid a separate development in which it is claimed that new documents show Channel 10’s Lisa Wilkinson and her lawyers disputed claims heard in the ACT Supreme Court that they were expressly warned against the Logies speech that sparked a three month delay to the first trial.
The Australian’s Janet Albrechtsen reports today that in a letter to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, that Network Ten chief content officer Beverley McGarvey disputed the assertion a clear warning was given.
“Neither Ms Wilkinson nor the Network Ten Senior Legal Counsel present at the conference with the DPP on 15 June 2022 understood they had been cautioned that Ms Wilkinson giving an acceptance speech at the Logie Awards could result in an application being made to the court to vacate the trial date,” Ms McGarvey said.
When she announced a temporary delay to the trial in June 2022, Chief Justice McCallum raised concerns about the content of the speech and the proximity to the trial which had been set down to he held that month.
“The distinction between an allegation and the fact of guilt has been lost,” she said.
Earlier, the ACT Supreme Court had heard Ms Wilkinson met with the Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold on June 15 to discuss the evidence that she would give at the trial.
At the conclusion of the meeting she raised her Logies nomination and her planned speech but the DPP stopped her and advised that he had no power to approve or provide advice.
“We are not speech editors,” Mr Drumgold said.
Justice McCallum told the court that he had also issued a clear warning that any further publicity could risk another stay application and a delay.
“Notwithstanding that clear and appropriate warning, upon receiving the award, Ms Wilkinson gave a speech in which she openly referred to and praised the complainant in the present trial,” she said.
Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence and told police during an interview that was played to the court that no sex occurred and it simply “never happened.”
His defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien is now examining legal remedies for Mr Lehrmann following the prosecutor’s decision to drop the charges against him over fears another trial posed a serious risk to Ms Higgins life and mental health.
The Director of Public Prosecutions’ press conference outside the court, when he announced he was discontinuing the trial, is also being considered by his legal team.
The Sydney law firm O’Brien Legal is examining the original interview broadcast by The Project and Lisa Wilkinson’s public statement about the case and potential respondents including producers of The Project, Roving Enterprises, owned by comedian Rove McManus; and Network Ten and its parent company Paramount.
The media law firm is also examining Brittany Higgins’ speech to the National Press Club with Grace Tame earlier this year with a view to pursuing the ABC that broadcast the speech live.
Consideration is also being given to media outlets that broadcast live or published in full Ms Higgins statement outside court following the collapse of the first trial based on juror misconduct.
The ABC broadcast Ms Higgins speech live, while other media outlets printed a cut-down version of her comments based on legal advice.
On Sunday, Ms Higgins published a full text version of her October 27 speech on Instagram, which was erroneously reported by some media outlets as her “breaking her silence” on the decision to drop the charges but was in fact simply a transcript of her comments outside court over a month ago.
News.com.au has contacted the ABC and Mr Drumgold’s office for comment.
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