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👋 G’day

Today’s brief:

  • Former EY intern alleges harassment

  • Simpson Thacher partner joins Corrs

  • HWLE commits to Legora from July

Here’s your latest, PB #{{join_number}} 👇

WORD ON THE STREET

EY sued

EY Australia is in the Federal Court after a former intern alleged she was sexually harassed by her manager, then victimised after complaining. She says she was iced out by colleagues, allocated less work than peers and blocked from participating in Elizabeth Broderick's culture review survey. EY isn't contesting the harassment, but denies victimising her: AFR

  • A Dentons partner blamed work stress after pleading guilty to drug-driving in Brisbane, cocaine and diazepam both in his system. His lawyer asked for no conviction to protect his practising certificate. The magistrate wasn’t convinced, citing the sheer quantity of drugs and a prior drink-driving offence. Dentons has stood him down: AFR

  • Legora just landed Australia’s biggest firm by partner headcount. HWLE Lawyers picked the Swedish AI platform for its 1,900+ lawyers from July. The firm ran a proper pilot first, stress-tested hundreds of use cases, then signed on: Point Blank

  • Corrs has lured James Campisi home from a partnership at Simpson Thacher in London, plugging him into its M&A bench in Sydney. He brings a book of PE heavyweights, including Blackstone, CVC and Silver Lake: AFR

PRACTICE POINTS

Reporting red flags

⚖️ Regulatory: With the 30 June 2026 reporting season approaching, ASIC has published early observations from its review of the first sustainability reports lodged under the compulsory regime. The overall quality is up on previous voluntary disclosures, but ASIC has flagged five recurring problems: (1) disclaimers telling users not to rely on the report for investment decisions; (2) failure to disclose known climate risks despite prior financial impacts; (3) unclear assumptions and measurement uncertainty; (4) material information buried under voluntary disclosures; and (5) sloppy cross-referencing to external websites or third-party reports: ASIC

⚖️ Restructuring: Australia's new mandatory merger clearance regime is creating a headache for voluntary administrations. The regime exempts a buyer who is itself an administrator, but it doesn't exempt a buyer purchasing from an administrator. That means when a distressed business is sold through a voluntary administration and the deal meets the notification thresholds, ACCC merger clearance is required. The problem is timing: the shortest realistic approval window is around 10 weeks, which sits badly against the 20 business day convening period administrators are already racing against. TMA Australia has proposed either exempting distressed sales entirely or creating an expedited approval track: Clayton Utz

⚖️ IP: Australian law doesn't prohibit copying in the abstract, and brand owners are feeling that pinch. In Bodum v Maxwell & Williams, the respondent admitted it intentionally copied Bodum's iconic double-walled glassware. The ACL and passing off claims still failed because Maxwell & Williams used its own branding and Bodum couldn't establish a secondary reputation in the product shape itself. Where brand owners do have traction is copyright in original packaging artwork. In Hampden Holdings v Aldi, Aldi instructed its design agency to use Little Bellies children's food packaging as a "benchmark" for its competing range. Moshinsky J found copyright infringement, confirming that copying specific creative expression can be actionable even where no consumer is confused: G+T

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TALKING POINTS

Property market slide

Did you hear…

Sydney's auction clearance rate just hit 49.2%, its lowest since the pandemic, and prices are sliding. Three rate hikes this year, the Iran conflict pushing up building costs, and a federal budget that scrapped negative gearing for existing properties have buyers stepping back. In the last year, attendance at open homes have dropped from 3.4 to 2.1 people per property: Bloomberg

Also…

A neo-Nazi group is trying to register as a political party while refusing to hand over its members' names to the AEC, saying it doesn't want to "doxx" its own people. The AEC says that's not how it works, and it needs member details. The group, already designated a banned hate group by the federal government, has separately filed a high court challenge arguing the ban burdens political communication and "operates as a doorway to tyranny": The Guardian

DEAL ROOM

Take off

🚀 SpaceX has filed for a Nasdaq IPO under ticker 'SPCX', targeting what could be the first trillion-dollar US market debut. The S-1 shows US$18.7bn in revenue but a US$4.9bn loss in 2025. Goldman, Morgan Stanley, BofA, Citi and JPMorgan lead a 23-bank syndicate: Capital Brief

🤖 OpenAI is also preparing a confidential IPO filing with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, targeting a public debut as early as September. Reuters has flagged a potential $1 trillion listing valuation: Bloomberg

🎙️ James Murdoch's Lupa Systems has struck a deal to acquire Vox Media's podcast network and New York magazine, once owned by his father Rupert, for north of $US300m (A$419m): SMH

SECTOR SNAPSHOT

First crypto licence

DIGGERS

🚜 Former WA premier Colin Barnett has warned that Fortescue's real cost from its Yindjibarndi fallout far exceeds the $150m court order. He says Andrew Forrest hasn't got the trust of any Aboriginal group and that many will be "very wary" of future FMG projects as a result. Also, Northern Star's Stuart Tonkin is stepping down as MD in Q1 FY27 after 13 years: AFR, Capital Brief

FIN

🏦 Sydney fintech Block Earner has scored Australia's first crypto company Australian Credit Licence, just as the government's plan to axe the CGT discount is tipped to drive investors toward collateralised lending. Meanwhile, Westpac has told brokers it won't honour pre-approved investor loans, flagging borrowing capacity could drop by up to 20% after the government's negative gearing ban: Capital Brief, AFR

RETAIL + REAL ESTATE

🏠 Ingham Property Group is offloading a 50% stake in a $1bn Aldi distribution centre next to Western Sydney Airport, the largest single industrial asset ever offered in Australia. The 87,000sqm facility, twice the height of the airport terminal, comes with a 20-year lease and 500 jobs. Proceeds fund more warehouses across Ingham's 182ha site: The Australian

TECH + STARTUPS

📱 A buried budget tweak has blindsided biotech and deep tech startups, capping eligibility for the refundable R&D tax incentive at 10 years. That's a funding cliff for sectors that can spend decades in R&D before turning a profit. Even Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, who led the review underpinning the changes, is urging the government to find alternative support: Capital Brief

P.S.

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