HWL Ebsworth expelled partner Gregory Lewis in 2020. He first sued claiming improper purpose, and lost on appeal. Now he’s back with a fresh claim, alleging the firm dumped him because of his age, cutting him out of its planned IPO and his future income. HWLE tried to strike it out as an abuse of process. The Supreme Court said no. Trial’s next: Lawyerly

⚖️ Corporate: James Hardie can't catch a break. It's now the target of two rival shareholder class actions, headed for a ‘carriage contest’, where the Victoria Supreme Court must decide which case proceeds (and which plaintiff firm gets paid). Maurice Blackburn filed first, alleging Hardie should have corrected its 21 May 2025 FY26 earnings guidance once destocking and softening demand hit its North American business. Slater & Gordon's follow-up suit covers the same guidance but focuses on the 34% share price crash over two trading days after the 20 August 2025 downgrade, alleging misleading conduct and continuous disclosure breaches. Hardie says it will ‘vigorously defend’ the proceedings: Lawyerly

⚖️ Arbitration: The Victoria Supreme Court rejected a bid to resist enforcement of two arbitral awards. In Simple Investments v Bradley St Development, the respondents argued procedural unfairness after an arbitrator ruled on a misappropriation claim outside the agreed list of issues, then awarded $679,599 without first ordering an account of profits. Croft J held a list of issues isn't ‘an exam paper’ binding the tribunal. On quantum, the respondents never disclosed documents explaining the disputed payments or led evidence of their own, so the arbitrator was entitled to infer the money was misappropriated and award the full sum. Croft J found any deficiency stemmed from the respondents' own forensic choices, not a denial of a fair hearing: Victoria Supreme Court

⚖️ Employment/Insolvency: ‘Payday Super’ kicks off a new headache for directors. From 1 July 2026, employers are required to pay super within seven business days of each payday instead of quarterly, meaning businesses need to find an extra 12 to 15% in cash each month, more often if payroll runs fortnightly or weekly. Combined with rising minimum and award wages, that's a serious liquidity squeeze for thin-margin sectors like hospitality, retail and construction. The real risk for directors is personal. Safe Harbour protection under s 588GA requires employee entitlements, including super, to be paid on time. Miss that, and directors lose their shield against insolvent trading liability: Hamilton Locke

Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson is appealing her convictions this week, with lawyers pointing to a "fundamental irregularity" during jury sequestering that they reckon should quash the whole verdict and force a retrial. Meanwhile the prosecution's cross-appealing, calling her 33-year non-parole period "manifestly inadequate": Bloomberg

NSW is first cab off the rank for the national gun buyback, with police expecting to collect up to 274,000 firearms from 2 November, nearly a year after the Bondi Beach attack. Payments range from $450 for air rifles to $1,000 for centrefire rifles and revolvers. Queensland and Victoria have knocked the scheme back entirely: TDA

🚿 Plumbing supply company Reliance Worldwide shares rocketed 24% after Brookfield lobbed an unsolicited $4.75-a-share cash proposal, a 31.6% premium implying a $4.1bn enterprise value. Reliance and Brookfield have entered a process deed, with HSF Kramer advising Reliance: Capital Brief, ASX

⚖️ Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Russell Philip and Jonathan Dos Santos) advised OceanaGold on its $776m scheme acquisition of ASX-listed Ausgold, with Baker McKenzie (Richard Lustig and Rick Troiano) acting for the target: Point Blank

⛏️ Glencore's October secondary ASX listing could see the mining giant crash the ASX100 within six months, according to JPMorgan, Barrenjoey and UBS analysts: Capital Brief