Bruce Lehrmann has lodged a last-minute appeal against the landmark dismissal of his multimillion-dollar defamation case, but appears to have done so without any lawyers.
The former Liberal staffer sued Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over the airing of allegations by Brittany Higgins that she was raped in Parliament House in 2019.
In a landmark ruling, Justice Michael Lee last month found, on the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann had assaulted Ms Higgins, thus throwing out the defamation case.
Lehrmann was given until close of business on Friday afternoon to appeal the decision.
Filings with the court indicate Lehrmann had lodged a notice of appeal with the Federal Court at 8.32am on Friday.
NewsWire understands despite the journalist being named as a respondent in the appeal, legal representatives for Lisa Wilkinson had still not received a copy of the notice by 6pm that day.
This oversight suggests Lehrmann may now be self-representing, or have barristers acting directly for him, as barristers are not able to serve legal notices as part of their work.
Lehrmann’s lawyer David Helvadjian successfully applied earlier this month for an extension of time to lodge an appeal.
Ordinarily, parties are only given 28 days to lodge a notice of appeal against a finding – meaning Lehrmann would have had until May 13 to apply.
Mr Helvadjian said new senior counsel had been briefed in the matter and that Lehrmann was seeking advice at the time on his prospects of success.
“As your honour knows, the transcript is very long and there’s over 1000 exhibits or more,” Mr Helvadjian said.
The extension was granted by Justice Lee after Network 10’s and Ms Wilkinson’s legal teams did not oppose it.
Following the defamation loss, Mr Lehrmann was ordered to pay a lions share of Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson’s legal fees, with the combined cost for all parties previously estimated to be about $10m.
The court previously heard Mr Lehrmann could be forced into bankruptcy if he cannot meet the costs order.
When the appeal heads to court it may be stopped in its tracks with respondents, already millions out of pocket, expected to ask for an order that Lehrmann pay a security ahead of the appeal to guarantee he is able to cover legal costs of the further hearings should he fail.
It comes as Network 10 and Ms Wilkinson return to court over the mammoth cost of their own legal defence, with the former The Project host seeking $1.8m from her employer.
More than 300 pages of invoices were released by the court on Thursday detailing the expense incurred by Ms Wilkinson on the lengthy legal challenge.
Documents released previously by the court detailed how Ms Wilkinson feared she might lose her home as a result of the costly proceedings.
NewsWire understands Ms Wilkinson will also file a notice of contention to argue against Justice Lee’s finding that the former The Project host and Network 10 did not act reasonably in publishing their interview with Ms Higgins.
Justice Lee said in his judgment the “conduct of Network Ten and Ms Wilkinson in publishing the matter … conveying the defamatory imputations of rape fell short of the standard of reasonableness”.
Lehrmann faced trial in the ACT Supreme Court in 2022 after pleading not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
The trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charge after aborting a retrial due to concerns about Ms Higgins’ welfare.
Lehrmann has maintained his innocence.