We all know the billable hour is on its way out. Well, here's how law firm leaders are thinking about what comes next: Ashurst's finger-in-the-air approach saw it add an extra $250k onto a bill after AI saved a client months of work, while Mallesons' "multiplier" lets lawyers log more hours than AI-assisted work actually took. Either way, nobody's nailed the formula yet: Point Blank

⚖️ Regulatory: ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant told a CAFBA conference that governance and underwriting standards in private credit have not kept pace with the sector's rapid growth, pointing to the collapse of Bathla as an early warning sign. ASIC's Report 820 review of 28 funds found only four disclosed borrower interest rates, and most lacked separation between those approving loans and those assessing them. Constant said ASIC expects all participants to self-assess against its 10 principles of private credit, and warned that enforcement action is coming for funds that don't lift valuation, governance and conflict management practices: ASIC

⚖️ Corporate: The ACT Supreme Court has found that former Aulich Civil Law (ACL) partner Erin Taylor, whose company held her 25% stake, is owed her $500k share buyout, after fellow directors Peter Woodhouse and Ben Aulich spent months ignoring her and moving money around to avoid paying. Balla AJ held that using a corporate structure didn't rule out a partnership existing between the three individuals alongside it, so Woodhouse and Aulich owed Taylor fiduciary duties as a partner, on top of their director's duties to ACL. The same conduct — sham invoices, nominating a cash-strapped ACL to "buy" her shares, and selling a related company's shares for $1 — breached the lot: ACT Supreme Court

⚖️ Costs: Crescent Capital Partners made an application to the Federal Court for leave to appeal a costs order. The order was made against it after discontinuing its trade mark case against Salaam Wealth Investments Australasia (formerly 'Crescent Wealth') following a decade-long dispute over the name. The Court refused leave. Banks-Smith J found the respondents' voluntary rebranding wasn't a capitulation. They gave no undertaking to the Court, and Crescent never achieved the broader relief it sought, including damages and corrective advertising. The default rule applied instead: a party that discontinues pays the other side's costs, and courts won't run a hypothetical trial to decide otherwise: Federal Court

Victoria just told data centres to get off the lawn. Premier Ben Carroll has banned them from residential areas, with a mandatory 150m buffer from any house. Operators must also bring their own renewable energy supply too. NSW suburb Lane Cove should be so lucky — Goodman Group wants one 50m from homes there, with the data centre copping record objections: Bloomberg, Capital Brief

Turns out being in AI’s firing line pays. Indeed Hiring Lab found advertised US salaries for AI-exposed jobs, think software, finance and marketing, have jumped 46% since 2021, versus 25% for nurses, cleaners and chefs. But the extra cash is going to senior staff, not juniors: Business Insider

⚓️ Andrew Forrest has toured Austal’s Alabama shipyard as he decides which bid to back for the company’s US division. Wildcat Equity Partners and Hanwha are both contenders. Forrest and Nicola Forrest own 19.3% through Tattarang, giving them serious sway over the outcome: AFR

❄️ Firmus is snapping up Queanbeyan air-con outfit Benmax for $300m. Only $130m is cash. The other $170m comes in Firmus shares priced at $230 each at signing, not settlement, so Benmax’s owners stand to pocket more if the IPO pops off. Benmax has designed and built Firmus’ cooling tech since 2020: AFR

👗 Advisers have reportedly been asked to pitch for a potential sale of Country Road, the flagship brand of Woolworths South Africa’s Country Road Group. The group denies appointing anyone, but it’s posted a $21.7m FY26 loss and has been in the red since 2023: The Australian