Ex-staffer slams Harvey on Reddit

Clive appeals $300bn WA fight

Median US GC pay hits $3.4m

Legal AI unicorn Harvey was blasted on Reddit by an alleged ex-employee, with claims of low usage and average tech. The thread sparked a flurry of commentary from other founders and even a reply from Harvey itself. Co-founder Winston Weinberg didn’t mention the drama, but instead dropped rare SaaS metrics – revenue retention and seat utilisation: NB

Law firms battle it out with Piper Alderman appealing a ruling that handed carriage of the Google ad tech class action to Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald. Justice Michael O’Bryan warned firm alliances could risk anti-competitive breaches, but found no evidence here. Piper now argues that’s an “error of fact” and says the appeal could resolve a split with Vic’s Court of Appeal: Lawyerly

Median pay for US general counsel at the top 500 companies hit $3.4m in 2024, up 20% since 2020. Women GCs earned more than men for the third year running ($3.6m vs $3.4m), though men took home bigger stock awards. Performance incentives now make up the bulk of pay, with financial services and tech leading the pack: Global Legal Post

In Habermann v Cook Shire Council, the Qld Supreme Court confirmed an employer’s duty of care can extend to third-party conduct where it creates a foreseeable risk of psychiatric injury. The case involved a senior council officer targeted by a fabricated email, purporting to be from her, that falsely portrayed her as racist towards Indigenous people. Despite being forewarned, the Council failed to audit its systems to disprove the email and broke its promise to “look into” the matter. The email was later tabled in Parliament, severely damaging the officer’s reputation and causing psychiatric injury that left her unable to return to work. Justice Henry held the Council had the power to take reasonable protective steps but failed to do so, awarding more than $2.3m in damages: Addisons

An ASIC review finds lenders have lifted hardship performance since its 2024 crackdown. Hardship notices on home loans jumped 58% after lenders improved online info and staff training, more customers now complete assessments, and approvals are faster as lenders ditch lengthy forms. Communication has also improved, with proactive check-ins, reducing the risk of borrowers sliding back into arrears. But ASIC says quality is still patchy, with some lenders relying on generic “one-size-fits-all” templates. It’s urging lenders to go further, including by cutting unnecessary paperwork, tailoring solutions to individual circumstances and uplifting quality assurance to ensure hardship policies are being followed: Gilbert + Tobin

Shareholder and consumer claims dominated class actions, with filings against Worley, IOOF, Iluka, CBA and Myer leading the charge. HSF Kramer gives the rundown on the class actions landscape, identifying that competing claims with near-identical definitions slow things down and waste court resources. Most actions are third-party funded or run no-win, no-fee, with Victoria alone allowing contingency fees. Meanwhile, cyber breaches, climate disputes and governance lapses are fuelling the next wave. HSF Kramer’s survey shows 55% of corporates now fear class actions, up 68% in five years, as privacy reforms and activist pressure widen the risk net: HSF Kramer

A new survey shows nearly 1 in 5 young Aussies aged 18–24 who gamble regularly are at high risk of gambling-related harm, the worst of any age group. Overall, 65% of adults gamble monthly, with pokies alone costing Australians $16bn a year. Advocates like Tim Costello say reforms are stalling, leaving Australia with “the greatest harm from gambling in the world”: TDA

The AFR Power List has added influencers Abbie Chatfield, Konrad Benjamin and Betoota Advocate for the first time, sparking grumbles from veteran journos. Veteran political editor Phil Coorey, a panellist, snapped: “If it weren’t for people like us breaking news, the influencers would have nothing to talk about.” The list, dominated by Labor figures, also excluded Coalition leader Sussan Ley — a first in 25 years: The Guardian

Clive Palmer says he’ll appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court after the Permanent Court of Arbitration unanimously rejected his bid to sue Australia for just a cheeky $300bn — a figure Roger Cook says threatens the state’s future. The case stems from WA’s 2020 law blocking his $30bn Balmoral South damages claim: The Australian

Trump: has signed an executive order that will see ByteDance spin off TikTok’s US arm into a JV, majority-owned by American investors like Oracle and Silver Lake. The sale values TikTok at US$14bn. Murdoch and Michael Dell are also tipped in. ByteDance keeps a minority stake, while Oracle secures the algorithm with US-only data: Capital Brief

Sembcorp: the $12.2bn Singaporean giant isn’t just eyeing Alinta, it’s also running the ruler over Lightsource BP’s $1bn Aussie renewables pipeline. Sembcorp’s doubling down on renewables to 25GW means Australia’s firmly on the shopping list: AFR

Oaktree: is the last bidder standing for Perpetual’s wealth arm, a sale tipped at $500m–$700m. But no deal yet, with terms still being thrashed out. For Perpetual, it’s a shot at cutting $740m+ debt. For Oaktree, another play in Aussie wealth: The Australian

Forget open-pit mining, let’s shoot for the moon. Fleet Space will turn its satellite tech on the Apophis asteroid in 2029, while US outfit Interlune wants to mine the Moon for helium-3 by 2028. Backed by quantum-cooling giant Bluefors, Interlune already has buyers lined up. Fleet says asteroids are “trillion-dollar ore bodies” and could be the next resource rush: Mining News

Fortescue has inked decarb deals with BYD, LONGi, Envision and added XCMG, while snapping up Spain’s Nabrawind. Chair Andrew Forrest unveiled the tie-ups at the UN General Assembly, pitching a global R&D and manufacturing network to hit Real Zero by 2030.

Westpac is being sued over its role in Chris Marco’s $250m Ponzi scheme, with liquidators alleging the bank ignored ASIC warnings and red flags as millions flowed through Marco’s accounts. The NSW Supreme Court case accuses Westpac of failing to act on suspicious activity, while the bank insists it simply followed customer instructions: AFR

CBA has reignited the mortgage wars, offering up to 300k Qantas points for customers who take out loans entirely online. The move is aimed at cutting reliance on brokers and fending off Macquarie’s surging market share. With fixed rates dipping below 5%, CBA’s betting frequent flyer perks will lure borrowers: AFR

Brisbane home prices could jump 70% by 2032, with analysts tipping the Olympics will fuel a decade-long boom. Benchmark Capital points to Sydney’s 2000 surge and London’s post-2012 spike as precedents, while REA warns Olympic builds may worsen housing shortages and labour costs: The Australian

Dexus is accused of leaking Melbourne Airport’s confidential info to Singapore’s GIC and a Middle Eastern fund linked to Emirates during a $2bn stake sale, sparking a NSW Supreme Court stoush. Co-investors like Future Fund, IFM and TCorp want Dexus turfed from its 27% APAC stake, but Dexus says it played by the rules: The Australian

Meta is rolling out paid Facebook and Instagram in the UK, with users able to ditch ads for £2.99 on web or £3.99 on apps. The UK privacy watchdog has welcomed the move, saying it shifts Meta away from targeting users with ads baked into the T&Cs. Free, ad-backed versions will remain: Bloomberg

ACMA, which is probing Optus’ Triple Zero outage, suffered its own three-hour IT crash just days later. The regulator says the internal failure had no material impact, but the timing is a bit awks as it grills Optus and Singtel over whether they invested enough in emergency call reliability: AFR