Law firms used to compete on rates and reputation. Now it's software. A&O Shearman flogged its legal tech platform aosphere for £200m and is building AI tools with Harvey. Closer to home, Corrs and G+T are prototyping their own. Billable hours won't cut it forever, and the firms writing code will outpace the ones still writing time entries. Read the full insight on our website: Point Blank

⚖️ Disputes/Privilege: Sharing legal advice with bidders can cost you privilege. The NSW Supreme Court held that making a KWM legal review report available to prospective buyers in a share sale process waived privilege over all communications created for the purpose of seeking that report. Justice Muston found that maintaining confidentiality over those background documents was inconsistent with having already disclosed the report itself, under s 126 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW): Australasian Lawyer

⚖️ Privacy: Now would also be a good time to review your privacy policy. The OAIC has kicked off 2026 with a compliance sweep of roughly 60 businesses' privacy policies, targeting high-risk, in-person data collectors across property, health, licensed venues and automotive sectors. Non-compliant entities now face penalties of up to $66,000 under expanded Privacy Act enforcement powers. From 10 December 2026, new APP 1.7-1.9 obligations also require organisations to disclose in their privacy policies how personal information is used in automated decisions that could significantly affect an individual's rights or interests: MinterEllison

⚖️ Corporate: ASIC has granted relief allowing a body corporate listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange's sub-market, to offer employees share scheme interests under the Corporations Act's ESS provisions. Ordinarily, those provisions only apply to entities listed on approved foreign markets, and AIM wasn't one of them. ASIC was satisfied that AIM's disclosure, reporting and governance standards are comparable to ASX-listed entities, justifying the carve-out. Companies in a similar position should note two things: applications must explain why existing ESS provisions don't already apply, and urgent relief is unlikely, as notifiable instruments take time to process: ASIC

Homebuyers have one more thing to worry about — housefishing. AI-enhanced real estate listings are the new catfish. Agents are routinely turning up to properties that look nothing like their online photos, after sellers use AI to digitally declutter, restage, and even remove power lines before listing. California got sick of it and passed a law in January requiring disclosure whenever listing photos are digitally altered: Business Insider

In other AI news, turns out satellite imagery is just as fakeable as everything else now. AI-altered images purporting to show damage from Iranian strikes circulated widely over the weekend, including one posted by the Tehran Times that clocked nearly 1m views before anyone called it out. The problem? Unlike deepfakes of people, doctored satellite images have no biometric tells. It used to take a state intelligence agency to pull this off. Now people just need a free AI tool: AFR

📉 TPG Capital has pumped the brakes on the $4bn Greencross IPO, pulling the float until markets settle. Middle East volatility is the culprit, despite solid investor interest from early site visits. Barrenjoey, Jarden, UBS and Ord Minnett are on the deal. TPG bought Greencross for $675m in 2019 and was chasing a $4bn-plus exit, raising ~$700m on ~$400m EBITDA: The Australian

🧑‍⚖️ LawConnect has snapped up legal marketplace Finchly, merging its 167,000+ customers with Finchly's 350+ partner firms. New CEO David Vitek, co-founder of hipages, says the deal creates a single platform connecting consumers with the right legal support while delivering better-matched enquiries to firms: Lawyers Weekly