Junior lawyer suspended for faking email

Erin Patterson sentenced this morning

See which firm leads on PB readers

A junior solicitor at UK firm Talbots Law has been suspended for 12 months after altering a client’s email address in a document to hide an earlier mistake. After sending sensitive documents to the wrong address, he resent them correctly the next day, then edited the original email chain to make it look like the error never happened. The SRA called it dishonest, but accepted it was a “moment of panic”: RollOnFriday

Despite the hype, fewer than 1% of the world’s top 5,000 companies are using agentic AI for legal work. A Salesforce pilot showed AI agents cut NDA negotiations by 25% and is expected to save 9,500 staff hours. But legal teams still demand human oversight, especially with liability sitting squarely on the company if things go wrong: Financial Times

Samantha Shields has joined Hamilton Locke’s Funds and Financial Services team in Sydney, bringing deep expertise across banking, payments, digital assets and regulatory reform. A former KPMG Australia partner, Shields has advised everyone from fintechs to global banks: Hamilton Lock

Lander & Rogers has welcomed Helen Sims as a partner in its Sydney Commercial Disputes team. A regulatory and public law expert, Sims joins from Holding Redlich, and has previously held senior roles at NRF, the NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office, and VGSO. Sims brings particular value in high-stakes inquiries, enforcement actions, and major litigation: Lander & Rogers

Sovereign shareholding frameworks are emerging as a new structural safeguard. Austal Limited has struck a Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth gets a “Sovereign Share” giving it specific information and veto and rights, plus powers to direct the subsidiary in limited cases. It also holds a call option to buy 100% of the subsidiary in specific circumstances, including if Austal changes hands. While Austal keeps the economic upside and day-to-day control, the share ensures Canberra can block any move that undermines sovereign shipbuilding. The model mirrors the US “Golden Share” in U.S. Steel and the UK’s Special Shares in Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems: Clayton Utz

The ACCC has rolled out its new online Acquisitions Register, the first public record under the mandatory and suspensory merger regime. Two agreements for lease are the debut listings, showing just how broad the net now is. These deals would never have been caught under the old rules, but under the new regime, any acquisition meeting monetary thresholds must be notified, even if there’s no competition impact. The rules also widen the scope of “assets” to include land interests like leases and options. For now, the register only shows high-level info, not detailed market or competition analysis, but it’s a sign of the transparency (and extra compliance) now baked into deals: Gilbert + Tobin

The NSW Court of Appeal has made clear that even a four-day offer of compromise can be “reasonable” in the right context. In the Yowie Group v Keybridge Capital appeal, the Court ordered indemnity costs against Mr Bolton after he ignored an offer to drop the appeal, despite earlier judicial hints that his case was “weak at best.” In fast-moving, high-stakes litigation, reasonableness is fluid and context-driven. If an opponent fails to engage with a short-fuse offer, they carry the onus of showing why indemnity costs shouldn’t follow. For litigators, it’s a reminder that a tight offer window can be a powerful strategic lever in expedited disputes: Clayton Utz

Judge slams WA police over unlawful Eucla drug bust. A District Court judge blasted WA Police after officers stopped a Range Rover “on a whim,” seizing $4m in meth and cocaine but denying the driver his legal rights. The evidence was thrown out, and the man walked free. Police admitted to quotas of 5,500 random car stops a year, prompting warnings of “noble cause corruption” eroding the rule of law: The Australian

Turns out, startups are where it’s at when it comes to employee benefits. Pylon CEO Marty Kausas is taking his 55-person team to Hawaii for a week, dropping up to $170k on hotel rooms, parasailing, and turtle snorkelling. The 28-year-old founder says pricey off-sites help recruit talent, reward hard work, and outshine corporates. Backed by $51m in funding, Pylon sees the spend as money well worth it: Business Insider

Erin Patterson will be sentenced this morning for murdering three relatives and attempting to kill a fourth by serving death cap-laced beef Wellingtons in 2023. The case, a first to be livestreamed by the Supreme Court of Victoria, has prosecutors pushing for life with no parole, while her lawyer wants a minimum term so she could walk free in her 80s: ABC

South Australia: has urged FIRB to block Cosette’s $672m tilt at Mayne Pharma, warning the US-backed bidder plans to shut Mayne’s Salisbury plant, which employs 200 staff and makes key medicines. The move adds a new layer to Cosette’s court bid to walk from the deal on “material adverse change” grounds, while Mayne insists the scheme should still be enforced. G+T reps Mayne while Corrs backs Cosette: AFR

ADNOC: is lining up more than $10bn in debt from local and international banks, led by JPMorgan, to back its $19bn bid for Santos. The Abu Dhabi giant and partners Carlyle and ADQ are pushing to lock a binding deal before exclusivity lapses on Sept 19. Santos’ board has backed the $5.76-a-share cash offer despite investor grumbles on delays: Bloomberg

MIXI: has eked out control of PointsBet after months of barbs, bungled votes and Takeovers Panel skirmishes, but rival bidder Betr still clings to its 19.6% stake. The $402m saga has ended in stalemate, with MIXI holding the cards and Betr stuck at the table, unable to cash out or force synergies: Capital Brief

Rio has cut 14,000ha from its Winu copper-gold project after negotiations with the Nyangumarta and Martu traditional owners, and the shock discovery of a night parrot habitat. Borefields are out, forcing Rio to rethink water supply. The $610m Sumitomo JV is still on track, but Rio now needs TO sign off before WA’s so-called “copper whopper” can advance: The Australian

Gold stocks have surged to all-time highs, with the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index topping its 2011 peak as investors flee to safe havens. Newmont, Agnico Eagle, Wheaton and Barrick are all up more than 80% this year, fuelled by geopolitical turmoil and Fed uncertainty. Analysts say miners are avoiding past mistakes by keeping costs tight, translating into booming earnings: Mining.com

James Mawhinney has been hit with a 15-year fundraising ban, after the Federal Court found his Mayfair 101 schemes posed “an obvious and substantial risk of loss”. Justice Button slammed his strategy of raising fresh cash to repay old investors, leaving many with heavy losses. Mawhinney, already fined $30m for misleading ads, says he’ll appeal: The Australian

Macquarie has broken ranks with the big four, calling on the RBA to cut credit card interchange fees – the charges merchants pay banks every time a card is swiped – or let them surcharge customers directly. Unlike its rivals, which share in the $880m interchange fee pool, Macquarie leans on debit, giving it freedom to attack a system it says gouges small business: Capital Brief

Qantas has cut $800k from exec bonuses after a cyber breach exposed 6 million customer records. CEO Vanessa Hudson lost $250k, with her total package still jumping 44% to $6.3m. Ex-CEO Alan Joyce meanwhile pockets a $3.8m final share bonus: Capital Brief

Wesfarmers banked a $97m profit selling six Bunnings stores to Charter Hall for $290m, as analysts tip more assets will go for sale. The sites, spanning NSW, QLD and VIC, were snapped up at ~5% yields, reflecting Bunnings’ long leases and CPI-linked rent reviews. Charter Hall now controls over $2.5bn of Bunnings stores, the country’s biggest landlord of the chain: The Australian

Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht says market conditions for an IPO have become “more appealing”, with the $64bn design giant arguing it could fetch more on Wall St than its recent VC valuation. Canva is on track for $4bn in revenue this year and hoping to unlock more liquidity with its float: AFR

Authors have sued Apple in California, accusing it of using pirated books to train its “OpenELM” AI models without consent or payment. The case joins a wave of copyright suits hitting Big Tech, with Anthropic settling for US$1.5bn, and Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI already facing claims: Reuters