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Published: Dec. 4, 2022, 11 p.m.

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Former Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has confirmed that she was advised on Friday that her former staffer Brittany Higgins intends to file a compensation claim \\u2014 that could climb as high as $3 million.

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News.com.au\\xa0revealed over the weekend\\xa0that Ms Higgins\\u2019 legal team had entered negotiations over a bombshell multimillion-dollar personal injury claim.

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It\\u2019s believed the claim includes $2.5 million for future economic loss, past economic loss, general damages of future assistance with at-home care and past and future out-of-pocket expenses of a further $150,000.

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Lawyers acting for Ms Higgins indicated they were pressing ahead with the claim on Friday, the same day that it was announced the charge against Bruce Lehrmann would be dropped and the criminal trial would not proceed based on a risk to the life of the complainant, who remains hospitalised in Queensland.

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\\u201cI confirm that I was advised in March this year by Blumers, who act for Brittany Higgins, of a civil claim by Ms Higgins against me and other parties,\\u201d Senator Reynolds said.

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\\u201cHowever, proceedings are yet to be filed. Blumers advised me yesterday that their client intends to progress the civil claim this month.\\u201d

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Ms Higgins also took to Instagram on Sunday, posting a text version of the speech she gave outside the ACT court when the first trial ended over juror misconduct.

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The speech angered defence lawyers because among other issues it claimed that Mr Lehrmann, who has always maintained his innocence, was never asked to hand over his phone to police.

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In fact, he was required to surrender his phone to police, with calls he made raised by prosecutors and the defence during the trial.

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Mr Lehrmann, who was originally charged over her alleged rape, is also considering civil remedies for a cash payout, with his legal team considering a Comcare claim, defamation action against media outlets and unfair dismissal from the jobs he lost after the allegations emerged.

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Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence and was never convicted of any crime.

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Sources who have seen the legal documentation supporting Ms Higgins\\u2019 claim say that it includes compensation for lost earnings, future earnings and at-home support for Ms Higgins, who has not worked full-time since she went public with her account of an alleged incident at Parliament House.

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The three respondents named in the legal correspondence are Senator Reynolds, who was Ms Higgins\\u2019 direct employer at the time she was found in the ministerial suite by a security guard in 2019, Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash, and the Commonwealth.

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But an official claim has not been filed while parties prepare to enter into mediation talks.

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Ms Higgins\\u2019 personal lawyer Leon Zwier, who was a regular fixture at her criminal case in Canberra, is aware of the claim.

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However, Ms Higgins is being represented in the personal injury matter by Noor Blumer, a founding partner of Blumers Lawyers who has practised as a personal injury lawyer since 1992.

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Ms Blumer has been quietly negotiating the claim since February.

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It follows former Prime Minister Scott Morrison\\u2019s apology to Ms Higgins in parliament for the \\u201cmany terrible experiences Ms Higgins has detailed during her time working at Parliament House and the treatment that she has described receiving whilst working here\\u201d.

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But he insisted that apology was \\u201cby no means a reflection on the matters before a court\\u201d.

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Ms Blumer declined to comment on the matter or any mediation talks when contacted.

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A leading Canberra lawyer, Ms Blumer previously went public with her own complaint that former High Court judge Dyson Heydon tried to touch her leg under a table and kiss her at University of Canberra Law ball several years ago.

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Mr Heydon issued a statement at the time through his lawyers denying \\u201cemphatically any allegation of sexual harassment or any offence\\u201d.

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News of the compensation claim follows shock revelations over the weekend that police \\u201cunlawfully\\u201d sent Ms Higgins private counselling notes to Mr Lehrmann\\u2019s original defence team \\u2013 who insisted they didn\\u2019t open it.

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Further revelations that police held concerns there was insufficient evidence to charge Mr Lehrmann were also leaked to\\xa0The Weekend Australian, prompting the prosecutor Shane Drumgold to raise concerns that this was \\u2013 potentially \\u2013 another unlawful disclosure.

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Last year, Senator Reynolds offered a confidential defamation settlement to Ms Higgins after it emerged she had privately referred to her as a \\u201clying cow\\u201d.

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The money was donated to charity.

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But Liberal sources said Ms Reynolds, who gave dramatic evidence at the criminal trial this year, was reluctant to settle the case.

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\\u201cShe will never, ever, agree to settle,\\u201d a Liberal source said.

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The other former minister named in the claim, Senator Cash, emphatically denied in the ACT Supreme Court that she knew of Ms Higgins\\u2019 rape allegations more than a year before it became public in February 2021.

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\\u201cNot a sexual element, no,\\u201d Senator Cash said.

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\\u201cThe first time that she mentioned an (alleged) sexual element was I think in the conversation on the 5th of February 2021.\\u201d

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- by Samantha Maiden, news.com.au

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