Milbank is at it again, stacking special summer bonuses on top of the usual end-of-year bonuses. They start at US$6k for the newest associates and climb to US$25k. Chair Scott Edelman called it recognition for “exceptional efforts”. Associates will call it Christmas in July. Yet another example of the US bonus season playing out in public while Aussie firms keep it firmly under wraps: Above the Law, Point Blank

⚖️ Construction/Disputes: A NSW Court of Appeal majority has ruled that emailing a Mimecast link to adjudication documents doesn't count as “giving” them under WA's SOPA. In Reward Interiors v Tackelly No 8, the respondent had sent its adjudication review application via a Mimecast link rather than a direct attachment, and the appellant argued this failed to satisfy service requirements. Free JA drew the line between actually handing over a document and merely providing access to one, since senders can alter or pull files from the link after sending. The Court also confirmed the one business day deadline to serve review applications is a jurisdictional precondition, meaning late applications can't be considered at all: Ashurst Perkins Coie

⚖️ Regulatory: The Federal Court has hit Harvey Norman with $35m in penalties and Latitude Finance with $20m for misleading conduct. From January 2020 to August 2021, the pair advertised a 60-month interest free, no deposit payment method across newspapers, radio and TV, likely seen by millions, without disclosing hefty monthly and account service fees. Justice O'Bryan called the conduct "serious and extensive", exposing both companies' compliance as "wholly inadequate" despite only around $5m in benefit gained. Latitude's later compliance overhaul and apology earned it a lighter penalty. Gerry Harvey's lack of contrition didn't help Harvey Norman's cause: Capital Brief

⚖️ Employment/Tax: The Federal Court has just undercut the ATO's long-held view on annual leave loading and Superannuation Guarantee (SG). In Department of Education v Commissioner of Taxation, Justice Button ruled that a teachers' “salary loading allowance” (ie, annual leave loading) is not ordinary time earnings for SG purposes. The Court rejected the ATO's binary “either overtime or OTE” test, finding the allowance was a separate entitlement paid on top of normal pay, not payment for ordinary hours worked. Employers who've been paying SG on leave loading may have overpaid: Clayton Utz

Jacinta Allan quit as Victorian Premier on Tuesday morning, hours before a leadership vote she was reportedly gearing up to fight. Enter Ben Carroll, her own deputy, who'd told her the day before he was challenging her. He was voted in unanimously, with Gabrielle Williams as his new deputy. Carroll's a former lawyer and policy advisor turned 14-year MP: TDA

Turns out Australia's the biggest player in the Pacific aid game, not China. Canberra tipped in $1.5bn in loans and grants in 2024, roughly 40% of all development aid to the region, while China's contribution has shrunk to a measly $255m: Bloomberg

📉 Energy Fuels' scrip-and-cash swoop on Australian Strategic Materials has scraped through with a fresh "fair and reasonable" tick from an independent expert, even after the Nasdaq-listed suitor's share price nearly halved since January: Capital Brief

🤝 Pacific Equity Partners has locked in exclusivity over Qscan, the 80-clinic medical imaging outfit offering X-rays, MRIs and CT scans, with plans to acquire Infratil's 59.6% stake for around $900m. G+T advised PEP: AFR

🏥 Calvary's consortium has sweetened its bid for collapsed hospital operator Healthscope by $40m to $50m, with backers including PEP's Healthe Care, Acurio Health and KnG Group: The Australian