Mallesons is officially ditching its 14-year King & Wood tie-up from Monday, a day early, because nobody wanted staff confused about which firm they worked for mid-week. The name plates are changing over the weekend. CEO partner Renae Lattey is already calling it the "only independent top-tier firm," and of course, G+T's Sam Nickless agrees it is the right strategy: Capital Brief

⚖️ Employment/Equity: In Direct Flow v Peterson, a former manager who set up a competing rubber business around the corner from his ex-employer has been ordered to pay $50k in equitable compensation by the NSW Supreme Court. The court found he breached his duty of confidence and fiduciary duties while still employed, by secretly downloading a 1,800-client customer list, registering the employer's trading name in his own name, and using a product catalogue and "sleeping" website he'd built on the job as a springboard for his new business. Copyright in the catalogue also vested in the employer under s 35(6) of the Copyright Act, despite the work being done largely at home.

⚖️ M&A: Valuation gaps and market movement risk are perennial headaches in Australian public M&A, but two underutilised structures are worth revisiting: collar-led scrip consideration and contingent value rights (CVRs), says KWM. Collars manage bidder share price volatility between signing and completion, with fixed price collars delivering economic certainty within a VWAP range and fixed exchange ratio collars capping and flooring value outside it. CVRs commit bidders to additional consideration on specified triggers, whether regulatory approvals or price-protection thresholds. Both are well-worn in the US but rare here, partly because Australian deal markets prize simplicity: KWM

⚖️ Competition: The Federal Court has fined Qteq and its executive chairman Simon Ashton a combined $6m for attempted cartel conduct in the oil and gas services industry, after the ACCC brought proceedings in 2022. Ashton's $1m penalty is the highest individual competition law penalty in Australian history. The court slapped Ashton with a non-indemnification order, preventing him from insuring against the penalty. As Justice Bromwich put it, the fine would have no deterrent effect if someone else footed the bill: ACCC

Could Australia really run out of fuel? Diesel is up 67% since the Iran war started, unleaded is pushing $2.50, and 289 NSW petrol stations are out of at least one fuel type. The uncomfortable reality: Australia now imports 90% of its fuel needs, and sits on just 30-38 days of reserves against an IEA-mandated 90… Meanwhile, Trump called out Australia by name at a cabinet meeting, saying he was "a little surprised" by our refusal to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, adding that he'd "never forget" who helped and who didn't: The Guardian, ABC

The High Court has quietly shifted the separation of powers. Used to be that the government could indefinitely detain foreign criminals it couldn't deport. But the Albo government has now lost three times trying to protect the community from people it can't deport. Since 2023, three rulings, NZYQ, YBFZ, and EGH19, have struck down indefinite detention, ankle bracelets, and curfews for foreign criminals who can't be deported, each time calling those measures "punitive", which only a court can impose: The Australian

🏦 Bain Capital’s buy of Perpetual’s wealth management unit is locked and loaded — it’s lined up a $430m leveraged loan, underwritten by a seven-bank consortium including BNP Paribas, HSBC and MUFG, to fund its buy. The five-year facility will be syndicated to a broader group of lenders. KWM and Allens steer the deal: Bloomberg, Point Blank

🛡️ Shield AI has raised US$2bn at a US$12.7bn valuation, more than doubling its worth in a year. The drone maker plans to use proceeds to acquire simulation software maker Aechelon Technology, underscoring surging investor appetite for defence tech and AI: AFR