Senator Reynolds Gains Legal Access To Higgins' AU$2.4M Trust Ahead Of Defamation Trial
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Senator Linda Reynolds was legally granted access to the specifics of a secured trust, where her former employee Brittany Higgins had placed a $2.4 million compensation settlement with the Commonwealth.
It was believed that Higgins set up the trust after receiving the money to shield it from creditors, such as Reynolds, who may have been entitled to the money had the latter prevailed in the defamation lawsuit, ABC reported. The funds could be potentially awarded to Reynolds to cover all the legal costs required during the defamation lawsuit she filed against the latter.
Senator Reynolds was suing Higgins for remarks she made on social media. The court was informed by Higgins' attorney that her assets total just $10,000. The defamation trial is due to start on Aug. 2.
Higgins had received AU$2.4 million as part of a settlement after she lodged a complaint alleging negligence in how her sexual assault allegations were handled. The allegations about Reynolds came after Higgins said she was raped by her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann in 2019, The Nightly reported.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Peter Quinlan, who gave out the ruling Wednesday, said Reynolds's application to access the trust was the "only way Senator Reynolds might have any hope of recovery of any sum that might be owing to her."
However, Quinlan added that Higgin's intentions to set up the trust will not be probed.
"Was there an intent to defraud creditors? No, because there was no relevant creditor then, and neither is there now," Rachael Young, Higgins' attorney, said in court.
She clarified that while Lehrmann, Penguin Random House, and the Commonwealth were possible creditors, none had claimed the money.
"Senator Reynolds posits herself as potential creditor. We say her argument she a creditor is so void of merit ... that the action is merely speculative," she said.
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