Fresh filings show Taylor Wessing’s highest-paid partner pulled in £10.4m (A$20.3m) in the year to April 2025. Yep, that’s ~£200k (A$390k) a week. Average profit per equity partner at the firm also jumped 21% to £1.1m (A$2.2m), meaning the top dog earned almost 10x the firm average: Legal Cheek

⚖️ Insider Trading: Six years’ jail for insider trading using a takeover pitch deck. The Federal Court jailed former fund manager Rodney Forrest for deliberately photographing confidential takeover materials, then trading and tipping others ahead of a 12.5% price jump in Platinum shares. Justice Bromwich called it a “profound breach of trust”. $309k in profits were forfeited. ASIC says insider trading remains a top enforcement priority, and this case shows courts will impose real jail time where confidential, price-sensitive information is exploited: ASIC

⚖️ Contract: MOUs can quietly lock you into value-critical positions. In JV and consortium bids, MOUs often mix binding terms (kick-out/withdrawal rights, exclusivity, cost sharing, confidentiality) with “non-binding” commercial terms that later harden into the shareholders’ agreement. Companies should slow this stage down: identify which clauses are legally binding, limit exclusivity, cap and clearly allocate bid costs, and treat governance and exit terms as a first draft of the SHA. Getting them right early avoids expensive fights later: Paul Hastings

⚖️ Employment: WFH refusal can be a valid reason for dismissal. The Fair Work Commission backed PaperCut’s decision to sack an employee who refused a lawful direction to attend the office three days a week, despite claiming an “unconditional” right to WFH. The contract required compliance with policies, the hybrid model was consulted on, staged and flexible, and the direction was reasonable.

NSW will become the first jurisdiction to scrap “good character” in sentencing, ending the practice of using reputation and social standing to soften penalties. Backed by a Sentencing Council review, survivors say it’s a monumental shift that stops re-traumatisation and victim blaming. Judges can still assess rehab and reoffending risk, but glossy references are out: The Guardian

Donald Trump says he had an “excellent” call with Xi Jinping, spanning Iran, trade, Ukraine and Taiwan, as tensions spike around Tehran. Trump flagged Chinese buys of US oil, gas and soybeans, while Beijing stuck to Taiwan red lines. With US–Iran nuclear talks off and tariff threats looming, oil jumped 3.5%: Capital Brief

🛢️ Shell has quietly kicked off a sale of its 16.7% stake in the Woodside-operated North West Shelf LNG project, one of the world’s largest gas assets. The $34bn JV throws off immediate cash flow and is drawing interest from Asian LNG buyers and Middle Eastern capital: AFR

🚜 Rio’s mining mega-merger still up in the air. Rio Tinto wants its chair and CEO to stay put, while Glencore is pushing for a chunky premium as talks drag past a takeover deadline. With big gaps on valuation and governance, insiders say a deal to create a $207bn mining giant is far from done: Reuters