Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyer has branded the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins a ‘soft rape’, while repeatedly testing the patience of Federal Court judges.

Ms Higgins immediately responded on social media with a post, now deleted, that read simply: ‘If it wasn’t so serious, it would be funny.’

The former political staffer is appealing his loss in the defamation action against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over a 2021 interview on The Project 

Lehrmann, 30, lost when Justice Michael Lee ruled ‘on the balance of probabilities’ that he had raped Ms Higgins, his then-colleague, in Parliament House in 2019.

But during a two-day appeal hearing in the Federal Court this week, Lehrmann’s lawyer Zali Burrows claimed Justice Lee’s judgment was rife with errors.

She told the court Justice Lee ‘made up his own case’ regarding what happened that night, which differed greatly from the ‘forceful’ rape alleged by The Project .

‘Regrettably, I don’t like to use the word “soft rape”, but I have to use it,’ she said. ‘No doubt the media are going to make fun of that.’

But Ms Burrows’ argument baffled the three judges who presided over the hearing.

Zali Burrows (pictured with Bruce Lehrmann) repeatedly tested the patience of Federal Court judges during his client’s appeal hearing on Thursday

Justice Michael Lee ruled ‘on the balance of probabilities’ that Bruce Lehrmann had raped then-colleague Brittany Higgins (pictured) in Parliament House in 2019.

‘It is all very well to say these things out loud, but you need to explain why this is a different case,’ Justice Craig Colvin said. 

‘The findings His Honour has made are all within the four corners of what was described.’

Justice Michael Wigney remarked that he too was ‘struggling to understand’ Ms Burrows’ argument.

Ms Burrows told the court that Lehrmann would have conducted his case differently if the version detailed in Justice Lee’s findings had been presented to him.

‘Let’s just say there was a version of what happened that there was loud music playing and screaming or something else happening,’ she said.

Justice Wigney interjected: ‘That seems to be entirely hypothetical, because no one was suggesting that version of events, so let’s focus on how you say Mr Lehrmann would have conducted his case differently.’

Ms Burrows admitted: ‘It’s difficult to know, not being his lawyer at that time.’

Her claims prompted the almost immediate response from Ms Higgins on Instagram, which was accompanied by the Taylor Swift song, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 

Zali Burrows (pictured leaving court on Wednesday) admitted ’embarrassingly’ could not find some documents during the two day appeal

Bruce Lehrmann was described by his lawyer as ‘probably Australia’s most hated man’

Ms Burrows repeatedly tested the judges’ patience throughout Thursday.

She described Justice Lee’s judgment as ‘a consolation prize’ for Network Ten, which she later apologised for.

She also made several requests to adjourn the hearing until Friday, after being unable to locate relevant papers, but these were denied.

She initially argued that she needed more time to consider various matters and later admitted ’embarrassingly’ could not find some documents. 

In her concluding statements, Ms Burrows doubted that anyone in the back of the court, including reporters, would have anything nice to say to Lehrmann, whom she described earlier in the hearing as having become ‘probably Australia’s most hated man’.

‘Not even to ask, ‘Are you okay?’ she told the court.

Ms Burrows then began describing the ‘level of vitriol and hatred’ her client had received before she was abruptly cut off.

‘Is this a speech or is this a submission?’ Justice Colvin asked.

Brittany Higgins (pictured with husband David) took to Instagram after Ms Burrows’ argument in court on Thursday

Bruce Lehrmann is is appealing his defamation loss against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson (pictured right with Sue Chrysanthou SC)

On the first day of the hearing, Ms Burrows admitted to the judges she come arrived unprepared.

‘I’m just going to try and do the best I can,’ she told the court on Wednesday.

Lehrmann has always maintained that he did not sexually assault Ms Higgins. 

His appeal hearing had been set down for three days this week but concluded a day early on Thursday.

The appeal judges will hand down their decision at a later date.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028