KPMG's 2026 Global General Counsel Outlook surveyed nearly 500 GCs across 28 jurisdictions, and the message to law firms is blunt: 82% now expect firms to clearly explain how they use AI, or risk losing the work. Billing is next, with 87% preferring value-based pricing over the billable hour. Three-quarters of in-house teams have already deployed AI delivering measurable value. Firms that can't keep up are on notice: Point Blank

⚖️ AI: The ACT Supreme Court has refused a director leave to represent his company after he cited two AI-hallucinated cases in written submissions. In Geha v Deuteronomy, the director of the defendant company held legal degrees and had been admitted to the ACT Supreme Court in December 2011, though his restricted practising certificate lapsed in June 2012. He sought leave under r 30(4) of the Court Procedures Rules 2006 (ACT), relying on his legal qualifications, intimate knowledge of the company and claimed inability to pay for legal representation. The court found his use of generative AI to produce submissions containing nonexistent authority weighed heavily against him: a certificated practitioner doing the same would have faced disciplinary proceedings: Australasian Lawyer

⚖️ Evidence: The Queensland Supreme Court has reinforced that quantum expert evidence must expose its reasoning, not just its conclusions. In Santos v Fluor, the court confirmed that an opinion is only as good as its provable factual assumptions: global claims and unexplained percentages are exposed to attack if the underlying assumptions aren't identified and proven. Importantly, the court drew a sharp distinction between assumptions that lack foundation, which go to admissibility, and disputed reasoning, which goes only to weight. Where methodology is transparent, a court can engage with it even if it ultimately rejects it: Accura Consulting

⚖️ Nuisance: The Queensland Court of Appeal has clarified the private nuisance framework in Enkelman v Stewart. A farmer built a temporary levee to protect his land from flooding, which redirected water onto his neighbour's property, causing erosion and silt deposition over several years. The Court confirmed that "substantial interference" is a qualitative factual question, not requiring proof of quantified financial loss. Critically, even "common and ordinary" land use won't provide a lawful excuse unless it's "conveniently done", meaning the defendant must have used means that reasonably minimised interference to neighbours. Exclusively protecting your own interests won't cut it: Hall & Wilcox

The May 12 budget will wind back negative gearing and axe the 50% CGT discount, reverting to pre-1999 inflation indexing, plus a 30% minimum tax on trust distributions. New builds get a carve-out to soften the blow, farmers and estate planning dodge the trust hit, and Albo swears there'll be “more savings than tax reform.” AFR

Iran broke the ceasefire by striking the UAE for the first time, hitting Fujairah's oil storage facility and multiple ships in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command says it sank six Iranian attack boats and intercepted missiles; Iran says none of that happened. A South Korean cargo ship also caught fire in the strait, and Trump is already on Truth Social calling on Seoul to "come and join the mission." Capital Brief

🎮 GameStop has lobbed a US$56bn ($78bn) cash-and-stock bid for eBay, offering US$125 per share — a 20% premium. Ryan Cohen, who's secured a non-binding highly confident letter from TD Bank for US$20bn in debt: AFR

⚒️ Regis Resources and Vault Minerals have agreed to merge in an all-scrip deal, creating Australia's third-largest ASX-listed gold producer, valued at ~$11bn. Regis shareholders take 51% of the combined entity, Vault takes 49%: AFR

⛏️ Andrew Forrest has had a change of heart, mandating BofA to run a sale of his 60% stake in the Yangibana rare earths and niobium project in WA's Gascoyne region. Non-binding bids are due end of May: AFR