See which global hub offers the most time off

UK firms offer saunas, hair salons and spas

Lehrmann decision to be handed down

Our deep dive into leave entitlements across Sydney, New York, Dubai, London and the Caymans shows Aussie lawyers aren’t as cushy as they think. Sydney’s 31 days of total time off sits at the bottom, matched only by Dubai. New York lawyers get more days off despite zero statutory leave, while the Caymans tops the list with 38 days. Check out our full breakdown here: Point Blank

London’s law firms are going full luxury to win the talent war. Paul Weiss has a juice bar and career coaches, Kirkland has saunas and a hair salon, and Linklaters is adding beauty treatments. With 80-hour weeks back, firms are basically building five-star hotels and hoping lawyers forget they’re still at work. Looks like Aussie firms need to up the ante: AFR

As the Ashurst-Perkins talks and other mega-mergers gather pace, one thing’s clear: Asia isn’t driving any of it. Firms are pulling back from China and Singapore, chasing the far richer US market instead. Asia partners admit it stings being sidelined while global strategies are shaped almost entirely in the West: Law.com

Ashurst has made its Africa debut with a new Morocco office led by ex-Clifford Chance partner Ouns Lemseffer. The move cements its push into fast-growing Francophone markets and comes as the firm gears up for its Perkins Coie merger. Ashurst joins the likes of DLA, NRF and Bakers in betting big on Morocco: NB

Consumer: The Federal Court has ordered Google Asia Pacific to pay $55m after admitting it struck exclusive deals with Telstra and Optus requiring Google Search to be the only pre-installed engine on Android phones (2019–21), in return for shared ad revenue. The ACCC said the arrangements substantially lessened competition, locking out rivals as AI-driven search tools emerge. Google and the telcos have now given court-enforceable undertakings removing exclusive default-search terms and allowing other search providers to compete for pre-installation: ACCC

Cyber/Injunctions: NSW courts are now regularly granting urgent injunctions after cyber attacks, building on the HWL Ebsworth precedent. In Uni of Notre Dame v Persons Unknown, Justice Brereton endorsed HWLE’s approach but preferred a tighter injunction directed at the hackers and their agents. The Court even went further, ordering them to remove all stolen data from any online location, including the dark web, even though there was no evidence of wider dissemination. In Qantas v Persons Unknown, Justice Kunc granted swift orders restraining hackers and anyone later receiving the data, and issued a rare 19-hour suppression order so Qantas could notify staff and prepare redacted material before the proceedings were public. Together, the cases show courts are taking a proactive, pragmatic stance on cyber extortion: Clayton Utz

Employment: HopgoodGanim has laid out the key lessons from the Federal Court ruling against Coles and Woolies. The decision has reset the rules on annualised salaries, confirming that “we pay above the award” is no defence if entitlements aren’t met in every single pay period. The Court found the supermarkets’ flat salaries failed to meet award obligations where they couldn’t prove overtime, loadings and allowances were covered week-to-week. The ruling exposes them to what media reports say may approach $1b in underpayments, plus penalties. The decision is a wake-up call for employers relying on annualised pay: you can’t offset overpayments in one cycle against shortfalls in another. And compliant record-keeping — including overtime logs, TOIL agreements and accessible payroll data — is mandatory: HopgoodGanim

Bruce Lehrmann is back in the Federal Court as he awaits the outcome of his appeal on Justice Michael Lee’s finding that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Brittany Higgins in 2019. His lawyer argued Lee “made up his own case”, denied procedural fairness and misread The Project interview. The judges didn’t sound persuaded. Lehrmann faces a $2 million costs order and potential bankruptcy: ABC News

Michele Bullock has warned that big government spending could push interest rates higher, as the RBA fronted a parliamentary grilling on inflation, rates and record house prices. She conceded inflation has run hotter than both RBA and Treasury forecasts, even as unemployment tracks almost exactly as expected. A rate rise is certainly on the table: The Australian

Perseus Mining: has tabled a non-binding scrip $1.6bn bid for Predictive Discovery, where it already owns 17.8%. Predictive’s board views the offer as a superior proposal to its October merger agreement with Robex, giving Perseus the inside lane HSF Kramer is advising Predictive and Corrs is advising Perseus: AFR

Perpetual Wealth: is still in play, with Bain Capital deep in talks and a deal now tipped before Christmas. Bain has exclusive DD after Perpetual walked from Oaktree and TA, with the unit expected to fetch $500m-$1bn. Barrenjoey is running the sale, which would help cut Perpetual’s $740m-plus debt load: The Australian

The Gina Rinehart-backed Vulcan Energy has launched a $1.1bn equity raise, split between a $245m placement and an $831m rights issue at a sharp $4 a share, as it shores up funding for its €2.1bn Lionheart project in Germany: AFR

Rio Tinto has inked a refreshed Native Title Agreement with the Nyiyaparli People, setting clearer rules for mine development across Hope Downs and Rhodes Ridge. The deal boosts heritage and environmental protections, locks in ongoing consultation and creates job and training pathways: Australian Mining

Fund managers are calling for penalties and compensation after the ASX’s latest three-hour outage froze 80 market announcements, disrupting results and halting trades. Investors say the exchange is failing at its “core competency” despite its monopoly and tech spend: Capital Brief

First Guardian’s collapse keeps getting uglier, with liquidators recovering just $1.6m of the $450m raised, including a $336k Lamborghini allegedly bought with investor money. Most assets are worthless, $242m was sent offshore, and liquidators say any payout is 18+ months away as the heat from ASIC is ramping up: The Australian

REA Group has teamed up with OpenAI to launch RealAssist to give homeowners personalised valuation insights and natural-language search. The tool is built to fend off global AI rivals by grounding answers in REA’s proprietary data and is showing strong early uptake: The Australian

Collins Foods has upgraded its full-year outlook after sales jumped 6.6% and profit climbed 12.7% to $27.2m, hinting at a fast-food sentiment rebound. Aussie KFC stores rose 5.3%, Europe’s ticking up too, and new launches like the Zinger Banh Mi are driving spend: AFR

OpenAI boss Sam Altman has ordered a “code red” to fast-track upgrades to ChatGPT, pulling resources from other projects like autonomous agents and ads. The move follows Google’s Gemini 3 surge and rising pressure to prove AI’s profitability. There’s daily calls and teams are being reshuffled in a push to the top as the AI arms race heats up: AFR

AirTrunk CEO, Robin Kunda, says the future hinges on data centres, fibre and energy, but hitting that vision means unlocking $26bn in new digital infrastructure by 2030. With demand surging and FIRB settings under review, investors want faster approvals, clearer rules and tougher sustainability targets: Capital Brief