Bruce Lehrmann has become a ‘national joke’ and can’t afford barrister for defamation appeal, his lawyer says

Former Liberal staffer’s lawyer begins three-day appeal hearing by apologising to justices for her client’s failure to appoint an experienced barrister

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Bruce Lehrmann can’t afford a barrister to represent him in an appeal against his lost defamation case and deserves substantial damages because he is “a national joke”, the federal court has heard.

Lehrmann is appealing Justice Michael Lee’s April 2024 judgment, which found the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10 when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins in 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.