THE Wagatha saga was revived as lawyers for Coleen Rooney and Becky Vardy fought it out in a bitter new war.
The pair are fighting over a £320,000 bill Becky walked for the 2022 defamation trial.
6
6
6
She is on holiday in Thailand while Coleen challenge of having to pay 20 percent.
The 42-year-old is relaxing at the Koh Samui hotspot England rush hour hubby Jamie37, and their five children.
“Wag War Two” heard Becky's lawyers working on it Christmas A day before the 2022 defamation trialin which Coleen accused Becky of leaking stories about her.
Lawyers for 38-year-old Coleen dispute being ordered to pay 20 per cent of the £320,000 trial costs incurred by Becky's team, saying they are “unreasonable and disproportionate”.
But Becky's lawyers insist the costs are proportionate.
And her friends say she is confident of winning the last row at the High Court despite loss summer 2022.
Insiders say Becky's team are also preparing to fight back later this year after she was found liable for 90 per cent of Coleen's £1.8million costs.
Becky shared selfies by the pool at the chic five-star Four Seasons hotel, where the Sky Atlantic TV hit white Lotus had been filmed.
A source said: “Becky is living her best life in Thailand with Jamie and their children.
“Being dragged back into a war with Coleen is the last thing she wanted, but her team will fight to win this round – and then hope to drive down Coleen's costs later this year.
“Becky believes Coleen's £1.8million cost is too high and her team will have their say when they take on Wag War Three in October.
“She is staying in a very exclusive resort and they are enjoying a well-deserved holiday as a family.
“It is also a celebration for Jamie who has returned to the Premier League of Leicester city
“Becky is confident that her team will argue her case for her, with a cocktail in her hand and the sun on her back.”
She stays in a very exclusive resort and enjoys a well-deserved holiday as a family
A source
Some of the costs in the current case relate to bids made at a hearing in February 2022 for further documents and information from both parties, as well as Coleen's attempt to take legal action against Becky's ex-agent in addition to the defamation claim .
6
Coleen's team argued the costs are too high as they examined the number of people involved in the work and the work carried out, including phone calls, letters and witness statements.
But Becky's team said people had to work on the case almost every day, including Christmas Day Boxing Day.
'Disproportionate'
Robin Dunne, acting for Coleen, told Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker: “The costs are excessive and disproportionate.
“We are looking at a relatively short period here – 61 days.
“The total number of hours declared in this section is 558.6 hours. The total, even with these reduced hourly rates, is over £320,000.
“That includes £118,000 in lawyers' fees plus VAT and over £149,000 in profit costs plus VAT.
“I'm not saying these were unimportant. These were important applications and I completely agree that there was work to be done and that they should be taken seriously.
“But we are looking at a period of approximately eight and a half weeks of work during which counsel has had very significant involvement in virtually every part of this case.”
He pointed out that legal costs for another preliminary hearing in the case were capped at £25,000, while Becky's total bill for the defamation case was just over £1 million.
He said it was “unthinkable” that the court would have allowed Becky to shoulder the “disproportionate and unreasonable” costs at the heart of this dispute.
Jamie Carpenter KC hit back at claims of “tactical low-balling” on behalf of Becky, saying: “These rates are reasonable rates.”
The costs are excessive and disproportionate
Robin Dunne, acting for Coleen
He added: “There is literally hardly a day when someone hasn't done the job. Lead counsel worked on the case on Christmas Day while on vacation.
'Most people were working on it Boxing Day, everyone worked on it the next day. It was really all hands to the pumps. No one did work that wasn't necessary.
“This was not voluntary, it was a huge amount.”
Becky hired Kingsley Napley to represent her in the fight against defamation, as well as leading barrister Hugh Tomlinson KC and top junior barrister Sara Mansoori
Today, Judge Gordon-Saker is expected to make a decision on whether Becky's legal bill was disproportionate and what Coleen should pay.
The pair will then clash again in October, where Becky's team will dispute the £1.8million bill collected by Coleen's team.
Last week, Coleen was pictured leaving a gym session near the Cheshire house she shares with new Plymouth Argyle manager Wayne38, and their four sons.
The private residence Koh Samui has its own residence wine cellar, butlers and private chefs to hire, and organizes privately hunt charters.
Neither Becky nor Coleen are expected to attend next one round of legal wrangles later this year.
6
6