Reynolds recruits French counsel as Higgins, Sharaz lawsuit escalates

WA Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has taken her defamation row with Brittany Higgins to her former staffer’s new home country, engaging a French lawyer in her pursuit of a freezing order over Higgins’ European assets.

For almost a year, the former defence minister has been pursuing Higgins and her partner, former press gallery journalist David Sharaz, for damages, as well as aggravated damages, over several social media posts she claims were defamatory of her.

Linda Reynolds launched defamation action against both Brittany Higgins and her partner David Sharaz.

Both Higgins and Sharaz are defending the defamation case.

The trio is due to come face-to-face in Western Australia’s Supreme Court in May after Justice Marcus Solomon implored them to attempt to settle their rows out of court.

But the pair’s move to the south of France to start a new life four weeks ago has seen the case take a turn, with Reynolds eager to safeguard her ability to obtain a financial remedy.

Higgins received $2.4 million under a settlement deal struck with the federal government, the details of which were laid bare in documents tendered as part of former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten.

In December, Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett penned to Higgins’ lawyer Leon Zwier a letter, obtained by this masthead, foreshadowing plans to issue freezing orders over the pair’s assets and requesting urgent confirmation of their relocation.

Such an order, if granted by the court, would prevent the pair from parting with or shifting any of their assets until the case has been finalised.

Court documents show Reynolds’ lawyers have not yet lodged an application for such orders.

But the pursuit is still very much afoot, with Reynolds’ confirmation on Friday of her new recruits.

“I am considering my position and awaiting advice from French counsel on my right to enforce an Australian judgment against assets in France,” she told WAtoday.

Higgins’ lawyers at Arnold Bloch Leibler have been contacted for comment.

Reynolds wants damages and an injunction against Sharaz over five social media posts and is pursuing damages against Higgins over two social media posts in which she accused her former boss of using the media to harass her.

The Liberal Senator wants the court to issue two injunctions stopping Higgins from publishing defamatory material about her and preventing her from breaching a settlement deed the pair inked.

Channel 10, journalists Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden, and Senator Katy Gallagher are among those to have been hit with subpoenas which may provide evidence for both cases.

A six-week trial has been listed for July in the event the mediation is not fruitful.

In 2021, Higgins alleged she was raped in Reynolds’ parliamentary office by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

A criminal trial against Lehrmann, who has vehemently denied the allegations, was aborted last year due to juror misconduct before the charge was dropped, and a retrial was abandoned over fears for Higgins’ mental health.

Higgins provided a glimpse into her new life in Dordogne in an Instagram post on Wednesday captioned “Nous sommes nos choix”, a quote by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte which translates to “We are our choices”.

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