Rebekah Vardy disputes Coleen Rooney's huge legal costs
- Rebekah Vardy's legal team disputed Coleen Rooney's claimed legal costs in court, alleging misconduct.
- The judge ruled that no serious misconduct was committed by Rooney's lawyers despite their lack of transparency.
- This ongoing legal battle illustrates the complexities of high-profile libel cases and the scrutiny of legal expenses.
In the ongoing saga of the 'Wagatha Christie' court case in the United Kingdom, Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy continue to challenge each other's legal expenses following a 2022 libel trial. The feud escalated in October 2023, when Vardy's legal team accused Rooney of 'serious misconduct' for allegedly understating her legal costs to undermine Vardy's expenses. Despite these claims, a judge found no misconduct had occurred, which led to Vardy being ordered to pay 90% of Rooney's legal costs totaling over £1.8 million. Rooney had originally claimed her legal costs exceeded £1.8 million, significantly higher than the previously agreed budget of approximately £540,000. This assertion raised concerns about the validity of the costs claimed by Rooney, prompting Vardy to appeal the judge's decision and contest the alleged misconduct surrounding Rooney's cost estimations. While the costs judge acknowledged the lack of transparency from Rooney's lawyers, he ultimately determined that the situation did not merit a modification of the payment owed by Vardy. In submissions presented during the appeal, Vardy's representative, Jamie Carpenter KC, asserted that Rooney had substantially understated her legal costs, suggesting that she revealed only 56% of her true expenses in previous budgets. Vardy's legal team argued that this alleged misrepresentation was an integral part of their case, and they sought to limit the legal costs Vardy would be required to cover. Conversely, Rooney's legal representative contended that her budget was properly constructed under the prevailing guidelines, denying any wrongdoing. The legal dispute has highlighted the complexities and challenges present in high-stakes libel cases, especially regarding the transparency of legal costs incurred by the parties involved. As both sides prepare for further hearings, the implications of these allegations continue to resonate within the broader context of public interest in celebrity culture and social media influence.