HWLE has just dodged a bigger damages bill. The firm was already found negligent towards a former client and his company, with court-appointed referees left to tally the damages. The client argued their tax maths shortchanged him and wanted the figure nearly doubled to $8.2m. Justice Ian Harrison disagreed: Lawyers Weekly

⚖️ M&A: A scheme can fail simply because time runs out. Schemes usually include an end date, typically 6 to 9 months after signing, and once it passes either party can terminate. Mayne Pharma/Cosette shows the risk. Cosette claimed a material adverse change, and the court didn’t rule that it had to proceed until weeks before the end date. Cosette’s appeal then ran a year past it. HSFK’s Rodd Levy says the answer is to deal with the risk when drafting the implementation deed. Build in an automatic end date extension if either side goes to court, plus a ticking fee for target shareholders and a requirement to take disputes to the faster Takeovers Panel: HSF Kramer

⚖️ Energy: Energy Minister Chris Bowen wants new electricity rules for data centres, and has asked the AEMC to draft them. Data centres above a certain size would have to prove their power use is backed by new, reliable supply in the same region, through contracts with specific new generation or storage projects. The AER would check compliance through audits and regular reviews, and those that fall short could face fines or even have their power cut back. There’s an upside too. Data centres built alongside renewables or batteries, or that sign binding commitments to cut usage when the grid is under strain, would get faster grid connections and could face lighter supply obligations: Mallesons

⚖️ Arbitration: The Federal Court has enforced a London arbitral award against the Perth-based sellers of a Trinidad oil company, rejecting double recovery claims. After the 2019 sale, the Sellers sent TTD4.9m of the company’s oil revenue to one of their affiliates, and an LCIA tribunal ordered them to pay it back to the buyers. Separately, a Trinidad court found the same money had repaid a loan the affiliate made to the oil company. The Sellers argued enforcing the award would mean the buyers got paid twice. Justice Stewart disagreed: the two cases involved different parties and claims, and the Trinidad ruling is under appeal. The Sellers also could’ve raised this in the arbitration, and arguments held back from the tribunal can’t be used to resist enforcement: Clayton Utz

Erin Patterson went in chasing a retrial and came out with a harsher sentence. Victoria’s Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal against her murder convictions, rejecting arguments about the jury staying in the same hotel as a police witness and the use of her phone data. She’ll now spend life behind bars: ABC News

Also…

Data centres are getting kicked out of the suburbs. Albo will ban them near homes and recreational facilities after voter backlash in Sydney and Melbourne. Locals already forced Goodman to scrap a $1.2bn centre in Lane Cove, and NextDC shelved its West Footscray expansion last week: AFR

🛒 DoorDash is buying rival Instacart in a US$17bn (A$24.2bn) deal, paying US$65 a share, a 26% premium to pre-leak trading. At least 75% is cash, with shareholders able to opt for DoorDash scrip. It comes after DoorDash nabbed Deliveroo last year: Capital Brief

💰 Aussie investors are lining up for a windfall as Anthropic eyes a US$2tn Nasdaq float. CBA’s $153m stake could hit $3bn, Hostplus holds ~US$65m and Empress Capital scooped shares in FTX’s fire sale at a US$18.4bn valuation. Aussie, QIC and BFA Global are also set to cash in: AFR

🏘️ Ingenia Communities has shut down talk of a third suitor, telling the ASX it’s “not aware” of any other party circling. That leaves a two-horse race: Warburg Pincus and AVID Property Group. The board says there’s no guarantee either turns into a binding offer: Capital Brief

Fortescue chair Andrew Forrest has challenged management to phase out diesel at its Pilbara mines by 2028, two years ahead of its 2030 target. It’s also signed its first deal to sell power, a 20-year agreement with lithium miner PLS, and is in talks with other miners: The Australian

Big super funds, led by AussieSuper, are pushing Jim Chalmers to soften the penalties for failing the annual performance test. Funds that fail twice can’t take new members, which they say pushes them into safer, lower-return investments. AustralianSuper wants failure to trigger a governance review instead: AFR

Coles has issued a rare profit downgrade, now expecting flat first-half supermarket earnings as fuel costs from the Middle East war bite. Its supermarket sales grew 2.7%, less than half of Woolworths’ 6.1%, after Woolies invested $100m+ in lower prices: The Australian

Firmus founders Oliver Curtis, Tim Rosenfield and Nick Curtis pledged all their shares as collateral to secure up to $10bn in funding, its first financial report reveals. It follows Firmus’ failed $44bn float. Firmus posted a US$77m loss and is targeting a Nasdaq listing: The Australian