AI-related disputes have jumped to the No. 1 litigation risk for in-house teams, overtaking IP and contract claims, according to a Shoosmiths survey of 360+ GCs. 55% expect AI litigation to rise, driven by job displacement and discrimination risks, with 43% already planning limits on AI use to manage exposure: Law.com

⚖️ Corporate/Regulatory: Former fund manager Rodney Forrest has been sentenced to six years’ jail for insider trading. Forrest secretly accessed takeover documents and traded more than $3m in Platinum Asset Management shares, pocketing about $300k. The Federal Court found Forrest deliberately photographed confidential materials from a Regal Partners executive’s computer, traded ahead of the market, tipped others, and leaked details to the media. Justice Bromwich called the conduct “serious and pernicious”. ASIC flagged the case as the first major result from its new insider trading team, detected through market surveillance and prosecuted within 16 months: ASIC

⚖️ IP: The Federal Government has introduced the Copyright Amendment Bill 2025. It proposes Australia’s first statutory orphan works scheme, aimed at reducing copyright risk where the owner can’t be identified or located despite genuine effort. If passed, users who carry out a reasonably diligent search, document it properly, and give public notice of use would face limited remedies if the owner later emerges. Courts could order a reasonable payment (similar to a licence fee), but no damages, additional damages or account of profits. The scheme is likely to matter most for developers, cultural institutions and creative industries. But the protection is conditional: weak searches or poor record-keeping mean full infringement exposure remains firmly on the table: Corrs

⚖️ Regulatory: BPS Financial has been hit with $14m in penalties over its Qoin Wallet product, after the Federal Court of Australia found years of unlicensed conduct and misleading representations. The Court held BPS promoted Qoin as a non-cash payment facility without an AFSL, and made false claims about approval, uptake and convertibility. Penalties include $2m for unlicensed conduct and $12m for misleading conduct, alongside a 10-year ban on providing financial services without a licence and mandatory adverse publicity. ASIC chair Joe Longo said the outcome sends a clear warning to crypto: the scale of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the misconduct. ASIC will move decisively where investors are exposed to unlicensed advice, misleading claims and high-risk products: ASIC

Elite Aussie private school fees are on track to hit $100k a year. At the current 7% hikes, economists say fees will hit pushing $100k a year in Sydney by 2036. If your child is starting school this year, you’re looking at $1.2m for 13 years - about a median Melbourne house… AFR

Pauline Hanson has leapfrogged Sussan Ley as preferred PM, polling 26% to 16%, as One Nation overtakes the fractured Coalition on primary vote, 24% to 21%. The numbers are fuelling chatter of Liberal and Nationals defections. Albo still comfortably leads at 39%: Capital Brief

💻 Rokt delays IPO. The $7.2bn ad-tech group has told investors it won’t list in the next 12 months, citing volatile markets and uncertainty over AI winners and losers. CEO Bruce Buchanan says the focus is growth and product build-out, not timing a float: AFR

👴 Lincoln Place hits the block. The $1bn land-lease retirement operator is gearing up for a March sale, with Ingenia, Mirvac, GemLife and Hometown circling, alongside PE heavyweights Blackstone and Brookfield. Adviser Goldman Sachs has been sounding out interest as part-owner Cerberus Capital looks for an exit: The Australian