A clinical negligence solicitor joined Hudgell Solicitors in the UK with a 125-hour monthly billing target, but was averaging 87.7 hours despite working late most nights. Succumbing to pressure to underbill, she fabricated 100 hours across four matters, including 43 units for work she admitted was never done. The tribunal called it a "sad case" and acknowledged real personal pressures, but struck her off anyway: Legal Cheek

⚖️ Litigation Funding: Australia's litigation funding market is one of the largest globally, growing at 9.6% per year between 2019 and 2024, with 299 class actions filed in the five years to June 2025. Funded actions consistently outperform unfunded ones, with median gross settlements of $29.25m versus $19m. There are no statutory caps on funder fees, but courts actively supervise litigation funding agreements to prevent exploitation. Since the High Court confirmed in Fostif that funding isn't contrary to public policy, the market has matured considerably. Last year's High Court decision in Blue Sky also resolved a significant gap left by Brewster, confirming courts can make common fund orders at settlement or judgment: Piper Alderman

⚖️ Governance: Star put board minutes back in the spotlight, and Corrs has responded with a timely guide on the art and science of getting them right. Drawing on Star, James Hardie and Centro, Corrs confirms that minutes aren't transcripts, but they're a board's best defence. Courts reconstruct what directors knew, asked and decided almost entirely from the contemporaneous record. Effective minutes should capture the information considered, issues raised, conflicts declared, and decisions reached, without reproducing every word of debate. On AI, Corrs flags that automated transcripts may create additional discoverable documents, and that boards should adopt a formal AI use policy: Corrs Chambers Westgarth

⚖️ Regulatory: Latitude Finance has paid a $3.96m penalty to the ACMA after breaching Australia's spam laws over 2.7 million times between March 2024 and April 2025. Latitude sent marketing messages without accurate contact information and, in 344,416 cases, without a working unsubscribe function. This is Latitude's second strike, having paid $1.55m for similar contraventions in 2022. The latest breaches were caught through Latitude's own mandatory compliance reporting under its existing court-enforceable undertaking. ACMA has now extracted over $10.6m in spam penalties from businesses in 18 months: ACMA

Skims co-founder Emma Grede called herself a "max three-hour mum" on weekends, and the internet lost its mind. Her point was that she focuses on quality over quantity, focusing on creating “high-impact, core memories”. The internet obliged with the full range of validation to outrage. One working mum said quantifying your time means you're being intentional about it, while another said she couldn't feel more opposite: Business Insider

Australia's getting the cold shoulder from Washington after sitting out the Hormuz operation, with Trump publicly saying he's "not happy" with us twice in one week. Albanese keeps calling it "constructive engagement," which is diplomatic speak for not much. Meanwhile, Trump's naval blockade is now expanding into the Indo-Pacific, putting pressure on China too, but claims the war in Iran is “close to over”: AFR, SMH

💰 La Trobe Financial has a new minority shareholder, with Abu Dhabi-based private equity manager Axight picking up a significant stake in a deal valuing the Aussie alternative asset manager at $3bn. Brookfield, which bought La Trobe back in 2022, stays on as majority owner: Capital Brief

🏦 Insignia Financial's $3.3bn buyout by US private investment firm CC Capital Partners has cleared its final hurdle, with the Federal Court signing off on the scheme: Capital Brief

🚌 UP Education is on the block for $1bn+, with KKR and Bain Capital tipped to have bid. The Pacific Equity Partners-owned business runs 64 campuses, serving ~39,000 students. But fresh rules banning agent commissions for international student recruitment are complicating valuations: The Australian