Aussie law had a big year. A new Thomson Reuters report shows fees up 10.2% and PEP up 74.2% since 2020. The Big 8 and large firms took a completely different approach. The Big 8 barely grew demand (2.2%) yet banked a 19.7% profit jump by just charging more and using reputation to make it stick. Large firms chased volume instead, growing demand 9.7%: Point Blank

⚖️ Privilege: In Perpetual Corporate Trust v Maneva, the NSW Supreme Court clarified that an email chain isn't one single privileged unit. Sirtes J held each email in a thread must be assessed for privilege on its own. You can't claim or refuse privilege over the whole chain as a block. Attaching a document to a privileged email doesn't make that document privileged too, and a privileged final email doesn't privilege the earlier ones in the chain. Interestingly, if someone makes a copy of a non-privileged email for the dominant purpose of getting legal advice, that copy can be privileged, even though the original email stays unprotected: NSW Supreme Court

⚖️ Employment: In Clarke v Beiler Constructions, the Federal Court handed down its first contested judgment on the sexual harassment provisions added to the Fair Work Act in 2023. A FIFO apprentice carpenter alleged her supervisor made explicit remarks and directly propositioned her for sex. There were no witnesses and the supervisor denied it all. The Court still found two instances of harassment proven on the balance of probabilities, relying heavily on what she'd told her family shortly after each incident. The Court also rejected the "it was just banter" defence outright — a direct request for sexual favours is a sexual advance no matter the workplace culture. The employer was found vicariously liable: Federal Court of Australia

⚖️ Regulatory: ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward gave lawyers a preview of where enforcement is headed next. Cartel enforcement stays front and centre, but as collusion gets harder to spot, expect the ACCC to lean on broader legal theories like concerted practices and substantial lessening of competition, plus sharper bid-rigging detection. On consumer law, Woodward flagged rising scrutiny of dark patterns, like nudge tactics and social proofing, with a growing focus on the systems and people behind the harm. Court action won't always be the tool of choice either — infringement notices are set to feature more often: ACCC

The High Court has its own version of Roe v Wade brewing. Justice Simon Steward wants the implied freedom of political communication scrapped altogether, and he's inviting litigants to challenge it. Chief Justice Gageler disagrees — he says courts must keep applying it until it's formally overturned. With six implied freedom cases up next six months, buckle up: Capital Brief

Ex-RBA economist Jonathan Kearns expects another rate hike this month, pushing the cash rate to 4.6%, and property prices cop a 10% fall along the way. That'd be the biggest housing drop since the Great Depression: Bloomberg

🎨 Canva is ramping up hiring for a raft of senior finance and investor relations roles, all pointing toward a US listing. New hires will run mock earnings calls, manage analysts and build SEC-style reporting systems, even though Canva says nothing’s been decided: Capital Brief

👗 Country Road Group is back in the sale rumour mill, with owner Woolworths Holdings running a strategic review of underperforming assets. The group booked a $21.7m loss in FY26, and while the company insists it's not for sale, past buyout talk pegged its value north of $1bn: The Australian

💉 Nucleus Network, Blackstone's clinical trials outfit, is heading into the final lap of a $1bn-plus auction run by Goldman Sachs. Bain Capital is prepping a binding bid via its life sciences fund, but faces competition from Hillhouse and Boyu: AFR