Kerry Stokes to fight legal costs as Ben Roberts-Smith agrees to pay

After Justice Anthony Besanko's findings were handed down in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case earlier this month, the Victoria Cross recipient and former SAS soldier agreed to pay Nine’s legal costs. 

See Also: Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: Judge hands down his verdict

“Mr Roberts-Smith accepts he should pay costs of the proceedings … but it remains in dispute whether he pays prior to March 17, 2020, on an indemnity basis,” Nine’s barrister, Nicholas Owens SC said in court on Thursday. 

March 17, 2020 was the date that Roberts-Smith rejected a settlement offer from Nine.

The Australian is reporting, however, that Seven West chairman, Kerry Stokes, is disputing his liability. When The Australian reached out for comment, a spokesman for Stokes declined to comment.

While no exact number has been made public, the legal bill is being reported to be somewhere between $25m and $35m. 

A two-day hearing has been set for September 4 to discuss the costs applications against Roberts-Smith, Seven, and ACE (who signed loan agreements with Roberts-Smith).

Ben Roberts-Smith had been suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, and the Canberra Times in regard to a series of 2018 articles that he says defamed him. As well as the papers themselves, Roberts-Smith had taken action against journalists Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters, and former journalist David Wroe. The articles alleged that he had committed murder and other war crimes during his deployment in Afghanistan.

The year-long trial has been the first time that any court has been asked to assess allegations of war crimes by Australian forces. It involved more than 100 days of evidence, 42 witnesses called in from around the globe, and hundreds of exhibits shown to the court.

Roberts-Smith resigned from his position at the Seven Network following the trial. 

See Also: “It’s a complicated picture”: Nick McKenzie speaks after Ben Roberts-Smith verdict