Becky Vardy drags rival Coleen Rooney to court for battle over ‘ludicrous’ £1.8m legal bill including lawyer’s £2k hotel
REBEKAH Vardy will drag Wagatha rival Coleen Rooney back to court today over her “ludicrous” legal bill.
Leicester striker Jamie‘s wife claims Wayne’s missus grossly inflated her £1.8million costs from their libel battle.
They include £2,000 for one of Coleen’s lawyers to stay at a five-star London hotel, with a £225 food and mini-bar tab.
Raging Rebekah vowed to continue her fight with Coleen after accusing her rival’s lawyers of “trying to pick her pockets”.
Their latest court showdown comes today, almost exactly five years since Coleen sparked their epic Wagatha Christie ding-dong by accusing her former friend of leaking stories about her.
Becky was ordered to pay 90 per cent of Coleen’s legal costs after unsuccessfully suing her for libel.
But she is now contesting the £1.8million bill which she claims has been unfairly inflated by the wife of ex-England star Wayne.
It includes £2,000 for her lawyer to stay at the five-star Nobu Hotel in London, along with a £225 food and mini-bar tab.
A source said: “As far as Becky is concerned, they have been trying to pick her pockets because they think they can get away with it.
“They underestimated their costs and are over-billing her.
“From the costs of experts to legal fees, the figures are ludicrous.
“They’ve taken a kitchen sink approach and are trying to get as much out of her as they can.
“Why on earth would her lawyer need to have dinner at somewhere so exuberant that cod costs £52 — and expect Becky to foot the bill?
“Becky won’t stand for it.
“She will keep fighting in court until she feels there is a fair outcome.”
The final libel bill is more than three times higher than the £540,000 which mum of five Becky, 42, had originally budgeted for.
A preliminary hearing is set to begin today at the High Court where Becky will outline her skeleton argument.
Her legal team argue that many of Coleen’s claims are extraordinary and contain errors.
They believe there are at least £120,000 worth of costs that have been charged to her which were outside of the time frame for which she should have to pay.
The lawyers are also disputing what they claim is an unexplained six-figure difference between expected litigation costs and the final figure.
They include allegedly inflated hourly rates from law firms Stewarts in London and Brabners in Liverpool.
As far as Becky is concerned, they have been trying to pick her pockets because they think they can get away with it
A source
Becky’s legal team have also questioned how lawyers spent so much time on a case described as straightforward.
When it comes to the line-by-line assessment, the Court will have to consider whether it was reasonable for the partner at Brabners to stay at the Nobu Hotel (incurring substantial dinner and drinks charges as well as mini bar charges, all of which are claimed in the Bill) while lower grades of fee earner had to make do with the West End DoubleTree.
The row started on October 9, 2019, when mum-of-four Coleen revealed she had turned detective to uncover who was leaking stories from her private Instagram account.
Coleen, 38, ended her tweet with the bombshell accusation: “It’s . . Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
Becky denied being responsible amid a furious backlash and sued Coleen for libel.
Even before the case came to the High Court, she branded Coleen’s budget, then £1million, as “grotesque”.
She was then “devastated” after the judge ruled against her in 2022.
Becky’s team say Coleen is claiming the equivalent of a lawyer working on it for over two hours a day, every day, from start to finish.
Coleen has also been criticised for not revising her budget during proceedings.
She was approached for comment.