It must have been a painful 56 minutes for Qantas.

One of the best known justices in the country had the undivided attention of 600-plus viewers on YouTube.

Then, millions of readers of the nation’s news outlets tuned in.

Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Justice Michael Lee had already become a household name after presiding over the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial last year. After criminal charges were dropped against him, Lehrmann sued Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson who had broadcast the initial rape allegation. Lee found – on the balance of probabilities – that Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

“Having escaped the lions’ den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat,” Lee observed in his ruling. Lee’s language was so compelling, his powers of summary so effective, his judgment was published as a book.

Lee’s word choice on Qantas’ sprawling defence of its illegal sacking of 1800 ground workers in 2020 has proven just as rich, and the media – perpetually on the hunt for better ways to describe injustice – can’t get enough.

In the near hour it took Lee to read out in........

© The Age