Most legal AI gets built overseas, then pointed at Australia. Habeas was built for Australia from day one. The Sydney startup offers natural-language search cited to the subparagraph, Australian-convention drafting and voice dictation for barristers thinking out loud. One startup GC ditched five-figure monthly counsel bills for it, while Phillip St silks are folding it into daily workflows: Point Blank

⚖️ Employment: The Fair Work Commission has confirmed that an employee who falsified timesheets while working from home was lawfully dismissed in Kumar v Hansen Corporation. The employer used digital monitoring tools, including Zscaler and SentinelOne, to establish a "gaping chasm" between recorded hours and actual system activity. The applicant largely admitted the conduct during the disciplinary process, making his subsequent unfair dismissal claim a bold move - one the Commissioner described as "ill advised." Digital monitoring evidence, where detailed and consistent, carries real weight before the Commission: Squire Patton Boggs

⚖️ Corporate: ASIC is taking no prisoners in the Star Entertainment penalties hearing. The regulator is pushing for a $1.3m fine and an eight-year disqualification for former CEO Matt Bekier, who Justice Lee found breached his s 180 duties by failing to act on money laundering risks flagged in reports about junket operators. Bekier intends to appeal and wants just 18 months' disqualification, citing his de facto exclusion from the job market as sufficient punishment. The casino’s ex-GC,Paula Martin faces a $1.1m fine and seven-year ban, though she's expressed genuine remorse. Justice Lee noted specific deterrence remains high where there's no acceptance of wrongdoing: The Australian

⚖️ Arbitration: Choosing an arbitral institution matters more than lawyers sometimes admit, but the gap between the leading players is narrowing. Ashurst has published a guide comparing the top five institutions globally: ICC, HKIAC, SIAC, LCIA and CIETAC, with ACICA the natural pick for Australian parties. Most now offer emergency arbitrators, fast-track procedures and summary dismissal. The real differentiators come down to how fees are calculated, whether the institution reviews draft awards before they're issued, and how strictly confidentiality is protected: Ashurst

The federal AG Michelle Rowland has put the NT government on notice, warning its tough-on-crime agenda is leaving kids unrepresented in court and likely breaching the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Commonwealth has tipped in $320m for legal aid up there, but the NT government quietly cut its own contribution to Legal Aid NT from $15.3m to $12.1m: ABC

Core inflation hit 3.4% in April, still well above the RBA's 2-3% target, but just enough to take a June hike off the table. The cash rate's sitting at 4.35% after three consecutive rises this year. Unemployment's climbing, a third of businesses reported a revenue drop in the last four weeks, and Iran-war fuel prices are still biting: Bloomberg

⛏️ MinterEllison (Jordan Phillips, Simon Scott) and Latham & Watkins advised Anglo American on the sale of its entire Australian steelmaking coal portfolio to UK-registered upstart Dhilmar Limited for up to US$3.875bn (A$5.4bn). The deal follows a prior sale to Peabody collapsing after a mine fire: Point Blank

🔍 The ACCC has opened a phase 1 review into Swiss insurer Zurich's $15.4bn bid to acquire UK-based specialty insurer Beazley, one of the largest deals to face scrutiny under Australia's new merger framework: Lawyerly

🏦 Blackstone is emerging as the preferred buyer for HSBC's $26bn Australian mortgage book, with Pepper Money tipped to service the loans, giving the ASX-listed non-bank lender operational exposure without the balance sheet hit: The Australian