Network Ten will continue to dig in against star journalist Lisa Wilkinson over thousands of legal costs for Bruce Lehrmann's doomed defamation lawsuit.
It has been more than two years since the Federal Court dismissed claims by the former Liberal staffer he was defamed by a Ten report on Brittany Higgins' claim she was raped.
On Thursday, Ten and Wilkinson returned to court to discuss how they would resolve their own internal costs' dispute.
Registrar Geoff Segal noted the journalist had claimed roughly 2000 lines of legal costs from the media organisation.
While Ten will have to cover some of Wilkinson's legal bill for the case, it is contesting certain claimed expenses as unreasonable or unnecessary.
The precise amount of her bill is unknown.
However, in November 2023, as the high-profile trial was kicking off, it was already around $700,000.
A 10-day costs hearing has now been scheduled for October when a court taxing officer will have to go through each disputed cost line-by-line.
Wilkinson will have to pay any unreasonable costs herself.
This includes those incurred by launching a NSW Supreme Court case prior to the defamation trial as she tried forcing Ten to indemnify her for her legal bill.
That lawsuit was moved to the Federal Court where it was wrapped up into the defamation case as a cross-claim.
After his defeat, Lehrmann was ordered to pay $2 million in Ten's legal costs.
That amount increased after he lost challenges to the Full Court and High Court.
The 30-year-old failed to prove he had been defamed during an interview on The Project in February 2021 when Wilkinson aired the rape allegation.
The Federal Court found, on the balance of probabilities, that reports of the rape were substantially true.
Ms Higgins had been out drinking with colleagues, including Lehrmann, in 2019 before the pair wound up at Parliament House in the office of their then-boss Senator Linda Reynolds.
It was there the alleged rape happened.
The former political staffer has always denied any sexual conduct occurred.
A criminal case against Lehrmann in the ACT was derailed due to juror misconduct.
A further trial was ruled out and no findings have been made against him in a court of criminal law.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
