The Fed Court is gearing up to regulate Gen AI use in litigation, flagging plans for new guidelines or a practice note. The Court wants to balance the responsible use of tech with the administration of justice, and will consult widely before landing on a position. Until then, the Court says practitioners must use AI responsibly and disclose its use if asked. The Court’s AI Project Group is now taking submissions, due by 13 June 2025.

The hot topic in schemes of arrangement? Whether Courts should give targets the power to adjourn or postpone a scheme meeting at the first hearing. While historically routine, recent cases have delivered mixed signals. In Crown/Blackstone and more recently SelfWealth/Svava and Quickstep/ASDAM, Courts made orders granting the power—even where constitutions already allowed it. But in Dropsuite/NinjaOne, Button J refused, noting the target hadn’t shown a specific need and didn’t include supporting machinery (like updated notices or proxy forms). HSF says that targets should be granted the power even if there’s no specific reason for the adjournment–last-minute developments are common and delays are often inevitable: HSF

The Fed Court ruled that the Deloitte cyber breach reports prepared for Medibank weren’t privileged, finding their dominant purpose was PR and regulatory appeasement—not legal advice. Rofe J pointed to Medibank’s public reliance on the reports, its coordination with APRA, and board engagement without lawyers, as its fatal flaws. The ruling aligns with the Optus case, reinforcing that legal teams should commission third-party reports that are dominant purpose of legal advice or assistance. The key lesson? In a cyber crisis, privilege isn’t automatic; purpose, process and presentation matter: Clayton Utz

PwC threatens to sack UK staff who don’t show up to the office at least three days a week, warning non-compliance could lead to disciplinary action. The Big Four firm says office-based workers are more productive and engaged, and has begun monthly monitoring of attendance. Yikes: AFR

Is US now a police state? Trump’s latest exec order calls on BigLaw to defend cops “who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken in the performance of their official duties”. Firms like Paul Weiss, Latham and A&O Shearman have to provide their services free of charge, part of Trump’s US$950m pro bono war chest. What other legal work will these top law firms be made to do next? Above the Law

Consistent with its reduced partner intake, HSF has promoted 4 new Executive Counsel in Australia—down from 10 last year. The 1 May promotions span cyber, project finance, energy and M&A. With the Kramer Levin merger on the horizon, HSF says it's a big moment to step into leadership.

KWM has lured Jennifer Barron from the other side of practice, the ACCC. With 25 years’ experience—including a partner stint at G+T—Barron brings serious merger clearance and energy sector chops. KWM says her regulator insights are worth its weight in gold as clients gear up for the ACCC’s looming merger regime overhaul, which she led before making the switch. Barron joins the Sydney partnership: Lawyers Weekly

OpenAI has rolled back a recent ChatGPT update after users complained the chatbot had become overly flattering and disingenuous. The GPT-4o tweak made it too “sycophant-y and annoying”, with some users saying it praised their prompts as “phenomenal” and even agreed with conspiracy theories. One user even claimed it encouraged them to stop taking their medication. Well, if you ever need a pick-me-up, you know who to go to… Bloomberg

And the next stage of AI? Visa’s giving AI agents access to your wallet (no, seriously). The payments giant is teaming up with OpenAI, Microsoft and others to let bots make purchases using Visa cards, from booking holidays to nabbing Taylor Swift tickets. Shoppers can set rules like spend limits or authorised tasks, and Visa swaps card numbers for digital tokens to keep things secure. Looks like agentic shopping is coming… and it’s not even Christmas: AFR

Peter Dutton has ruled out job cuts at ASIO, ASIS or the ASD, further shrinking the list of who’s actually on the chopping block in his 41,000 public servant purge. He now says the cuts will come from Canberra-based roles via natural attrition—but with frontline workers off-limits and spies spared, the mystery remains: who exactly is getting the sack? Capital Brief

Trump says he’s open to tariff talks with Australia, confirming “they are calling” and we’ll speak soon. Albo, for his part, says there are “opportunities” arising from the US trade war: Bloomberg

The ASX: is bleeding CDIs as companies like Newmont, Amcor and James Hardie shift their primary listing offshore. ASX data shows the CDI proportion in these companies often halves within months post-merger. This creates a “snowballing effect” that makes maintaining an ASX listing not worth the effort, says HSF’s Rodd Levy: AFR

Pfizer: is hunting US$15bn worth of M&A this year to rebuild its pipeline after shelving its lead obesity pill, danuglipron, due to side effects and poor tolerability. With its fastest path into the booming weight-loss market gone—and Covid revenues fading—CEO Albert Bourla says the plan is to spread the risk across two or three smaller deals, with Viking or Structure Therapeutics tipped as possible targets: Bloomberg

A Grant Thorton: report shows M&A deals in Australia dipping. But offshore buyers—especially from the US and Canada—are snapping up more assets and paying higher multiples. Overseas buyers also accounted for 36% of deals, up from 31%, as they chase sub-$100m targets: Business News

Accolade Wines: has officially acquired Pernod Ricard’s Aussie, NZ and Spanish wine portfolios. That includes Jacob’s Creek, Brancott Estate and Campo Viejo and creates new global wine player Vinarchy. The $11.5bn spirits giant offloaded the brands to focus on premium spirits. 7 wineries and over 10m cases come with the package: BusinessWire

The Gina Rinehart backed Delta Lithium is spinning off its gold assets into a new ASX-listed company, Ballard Mining, after shelving a sale of its shovel-ready Mount Ida project. With gold soaring and demerger fever catching on, Delta wants to preserve its lithium focus while letting shareholders Ms Rinehart and MinRes' Chris Ellison ride the gold boom in a separate vehicle: AFR

MinRes has burned through $300m in 3 months and slashed iron ore guidance, but shares surged 13% after CFO Mark Wilson ruled out a highly dilutive equity raise. With net debt ballooning to $5.4bn, well above its $4bn market cap, Wilson flagged asset sales and refinancing as alternatives: AFR

AI roles at big banks jumped 13% in six months—even as headcount elsewhere shrinks. One in every 50 bank staff now works in AI, with JPMorgan leading the pack. CommBank’s catching up fast, growing its AI ranks by 21%+: Finextra

HESTA locks out 1.1m members. Its seven-week freeze on super transactions is raising eyebrows across the industry. The $88bn fund is halting most services, including withdrawals, contributions and insurance claims, until June 2 while it upgrades IT systems. Advisers are calling it a “customer prison”: The Australian

Nike is betting big on a new sub-brand with Kim K's Skims, rolling out NikeSkims this spring. It’s not just a collab — it’ll run like Jordan Brand, with its own staff, P&L and product line. It’s a high-stakes move for the Nike, which has fumbled with fresh drops and lost women to Lululemon and Alo: Bloomberg

Aldi’s Aussie ops are booming. The German-founded chain is raking in $402m profit on $12.1bn sales, up 127%. It’s become the go-to for budget-weary shoppers, and its parent Hofer KG is cashing in, with $1bn in dividends flowing back to Austria: AFR

Elon Musk is set to face trial next year over tweets claiming his $44bn Twitter buyout was “temporarily on hold” due to concerns about bots and spam accounts on Twitter. Shareholders who sold during the chaos say they were misled and are suing for billions. Musk’s defence? That the merger terms were public, and investors should’ve known not to take his tweets seriously: Financial Times

Just two months after launching, Australia’s biggest VCs Square Peg and Airtree are circling Thinking Machines Lab, the Mira Murati-led AI startup reportedly raising $3.1bn at an eye watering $15bn valuation. Backed by a16z and filled with ex-OpenAI talent (including Aussie Andrew Tulloch), it’s a rare chance for local VCs to buy into the next-gen ChatGPT rival before the US giants pounce: AFR