Login
Porter, Chrysanthou face $550,000 costs order, court hears
Christian Porter and his former defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou may be paying up to half a million dollars to the friend of the woman who accused him of rape after she successfully argued that the barrister could misuse confidential information.
Naomi Neilson
Notwithstanding an appeal filed by the former Attorney-General, the Federal Court continued to hear whether he and his former barrister should pay costs in a lump sum order. During the case management hearing, the court heard that this amount could be around the “550-odd figure”, pending further analysis of timesheets.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Mr Porter and Ms Chrysanthou lost a legal fight to the friend, Joanne Dyer, after the latter convinced the Federal Court that she may have disclosed confidential information to Ms Chrysanthou which could be used to Mr Porter’s advantage. This case ran alongside a now-concluded defamation fight against the ABC.
Acting for Ms Chrysanthou, barrister Anne Horvath requested timesheets and total invoices to help explain the costs breakdown. Meanwhile, Mr Porter’s barrister, Callan O’Neill, said it appeared the law firm acting for Ms Dyer spent 120 hours on the matter, while a senior associate spent 220 hours and a junior lawyer assisted by dedicating 244 hours on the matter over the course of “16 days”.
Justice Thomas Thawley, who imposed the costs order in early June, has ordered that the timesheets and invoices be produced by 5pm on Friday, 23 July. He also referred the costs dispute for mediation or determination by a registrar.
Near the end of June – and a day after an original dossier detailing the rape allegations was made publicly available – Mr Porter filed appeal documents in the Federal Court to overturn the decision to remove Ms Chrysanthou from his star-studded legal team. A successful appeal could mean avoiding paying the costs.
In the meantime, his legal team are still awaiting orders as to whether three temporarily redacted schedules from the ABC defence and his reply will be made publicly available. A barrister for media companies Nine and News Corporation have argued it would be unusual for the Federal Court to permanently redact documents.
Mr Porter may also face further legal action brought by The New Liberals leader and former prosecutor Victor Kline, who told Lawyers Weekly that he had found “credible, believable evidence” in the dossier. Mr Porter has denied all allegations.
