A UK High Court judge has announced that Coleen Rooney has “completely succeeded” in her appeal against Rebekah Vardy in their high-profile libel case involving Wagatha Christie.
In 2022, Ms Vardy unsuccessfully brought legal action against Ms Rooney, and there is an ongoing dispute over the amount Ms Vardy should pay in legal costs.
In October last year, a judge specialising in legal costs ruled that Ms Rooney's lawyers had committed no misconduct after Ms Vardy's legal team accused them of “deliberately” under-reporting some of her expenses.
Earlier this month, Mr Justice Kavanagh dismissed Ms Vardy's appeal against that decision, but she then challenged Ms Rooney's costs for the appeal.
Jamie Carpenter QC, acting for Ms Vardy, told the court in written submissions that although Ms Rooney had successfully contested the appeal, the court had rejected two submissions made on her behalf and Ms Vardy had incurred additional costs in pursuing those arguments.
Ms Rooney's lawyers argued she was entitled to full reimbursement of her legal costs in fighting the appeal, which they said totalled £85,468.50.
In his judgment on Tuesday, Mr Justice Kavanagh said: “Mr Carpenter QC accepted that the reduction in costs reflecting the lack of success of these arguments should only be 'modest' and added that a 10% reduction in Ms Rooney's costs award would reflect the overall fairness of the situation.”
“I do not accept this statement.”
He continued: “While there may be cases where it is reasonable to disregard some of the successful party's costs because much of the hearing concerned a particular issue or issues on which the party was unsuccessful, that is not the case here.
“The factual situation is that Ms Rooney was entirely successful at the appeal hearing.”
The judge must now assess how much Ms Rooney's legal costs in fighting the appeal will have to be paid by Ms Vardy.
A separate detailed assessment of the legal costs Ms Vardy must pay Ms Rooney in the libel proceedings is due to begin on May 6. Costs Judge Mark Whelan is due to preside over the hearing, which is expected to last 10 days.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
