HSF Kramer is targeting a Texas office within the next two years, with chair Rebecca Maslen-Stannage flagging energy as the drawcard, a natural fit for the firm's strong Australian energy practice. A merger with a local firm or a greenfield office are both on the table. Ten months post-merger, the firm hits 652 partners on 1 May, with its US partner headcount growing from 110 to 120: Point Blank

⚖️ Evidence: The NSW Court of Appeal has confirmed in Davey v Want that a plaintiff can be accepted as a genuine and honest witness yet still fail to discharge the civil standard of proof. The case involved allegations of sexual abuse said to have occurred in the early 1970s, when the appellant was aged five to seven. The primary judge accepted she was a "witness of truth" but found her recollection insufficiently reliable given the passage of time and internal inconsistencies. The Court reaffirmed that Briginshaw principle directs attention to the quality and reliability of evidence, not just sincerity. It also confirmed that the forensic principles in Longman, that delay increases the potential for memory error, can apply in civil proceedings without importing a criminal standard: Colin, Biggers & Paisley

⚖️ AI: We all know AI is everywhere — including gambling. It’s now deeply embedded in Australia’s online gambling sector, from real-time odds setting and personalised promotions to harm detection and chatbots. ACMA has just released a detailed report on how licensed operators are deploying it. The main point of tension: the same models used for harm detection can also facilitate harm (eg, by directing users to unlicensed operators or increasing betting frequency). Internationally, the UK, Sweden and Denmark already impose positive duty-of-care obligations to identify and mitigate gambling harm. The ACMA report signals Australian regulator expectations may be heading the same way: Senet

⚖️ Finance/Regulatory: The Federal Court has ordered Money3 Loans to pay $1.55m in penalties for breaching responsible lending obligations when providing car finance to vulnerable consumers. The Court found that across five loans entered between May 2019 and February 2021, Money3 failed to make reasonable inquiries about or verify borrowers' living expenses. In one case, it also failed to inquire about the borrower's requirements and objectives. McElwaine J described the failures as "serious", undermining the very purpose of responsible lending obligations. The penalty is both a specific deterrent to Money3 and a general message to all licensees: ASIC

Jerome Powell is staying on at the Fed as a board member after his chairmanship ends next month. Outgoing chairs usually leave the board - so, Powell is breaking a tradition unbroken since 1948. He's sticking around to fight off what he calls "unprecedented legal attacks" from the Trump administration. The Fed held rates for the third straight meeting, but the 8-4 split was the most divided vote since 1992. Kevin Warsh takes over from Powell as chair: Capital Brief, The Australian

Meanwhile at home, March inflation hit 4.6%, the highest since September 2023, driven by a 32.8% monthly spike in petrol prices after the Iran conflict choked global oil supply. Markets are pricing a 75% chance the RBA hikes again on May 5. That would take the cash rate to 4.35%, unwinding all of last year's cuts. But last time, the board was split 5-4, so it's not a certainty: ABC

⛏️ Global mining M&A hit $21.6bn in Q1 2026, the strongest start since 2023, with 121 deals recorded, up from 117 a year earlier. Deal value jumped 34% on Q1 2025, even as the Glencore-Rio Tinto mega-merger collapsed: Mining.com

💳 ANZ is buying out Worldline's 51% stake in their merchant payments joint venture for an enterprise value of $89m (implied equity value of ~$30m), pending ACCC approval. Macquarie Capital ran the strategic review: The Australian

🧊 Lineage, the world's largest temperature-controlled warehousing giant, is weighing a sale of its Asia-Pacific operations, including a sprawling Australian network of 15-plus facilities across every major city: AFR