Trials

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.

Senator Linda Reynolds has given evidence about the fallout of media reporting about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, saying she experienced health problems from the stress and felt she could not defend herself in the public eye since it was a criminal matter.

A judge has granted Brittany Higgins’ bid to subpoena text messages Linda Reynolds exchanged with accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann’s senior counsel, while also granting the senator’s bid for communications related to a fundraising page for Higgins.

Senator Linda Reynolds has taken the stand in her defamation case against Brittany Higgins, telling a court on Tuesday she encouraged the former staffer to go to the police after her alleged rape by colleague Bruce Lehrmann because she was “not the right person” to conduct an investigation.  

Brittany Higgins’ counsel has argued that her former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds, mishandled her staffer’s allegation she was raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann at Parliament House, saying she effectively told her to “go elsewhere”.

As another trial traversing the rape allegations of former political staffer Brittany Higgins gets underway, a lawyer for Senator Linda Reynolds has told a court Higgins’ claim she was pressured not to pursue a complaint against Bruce Lehrmann was the stuff of fairytales.

The managing partner of a leading plaintiff law firm has agreed to drop his case against a Melbourne law firm, which he claimed failed to properly advise him on an agreement that barred him from selling his shares in Slater & Gordon before the firm’s share price plummeted in 2015. 

A law firm partner who alleges a Melbourne solicitor failed to properly advise him on a share sale agreement with Slater & Gordon in 2014 declined assistance before signing a term sheet that outlined he could not sell his shares in the firm for three years, a court has heard.