NSW's senior counsel process is copping heat as a subjective "private club" that rewards elite chambers over talent. Criminal silk hopeful Gabriel Wendler has been knocked back for over a decade despite High Court runs, while four chambers, including Banco and Eleven Wentworth, produced a quarter of all new silks: AFR

⚖️ Climate: Treasury dropped voluntary guidance on climate transition planning on 24 August, built around a four-stage cycle: assess, set ambitions, plan actions, implement. It's not a disclosure regime and won't feed into mandatory AASB S2 reporting. But it does set out what Treasury thinks good practice looks like, which means investors and lenders may start holding companies to it regardless. The three-tier proportionality framework lets low-risk entities get away with a simple climate narrative, while high-risk, high-complexity organisations need investment-grade, scientifically-backed targets. With 80% of ASX200 companies by market cap already carrying net zero targets, expect this to become a new benchmark: Ashurst Perkins Coie

⚖️ Corporate: Dexus Capital v Australia Pacific Airports Corporation has put consortium boardrooms on notice. Nominee directors owe duties to the company, not their appointing shareholder, even where a shareholders' deed lets appointors' interests shape the board's thinking. The court cleared the non-Dexus directors precisely because they could show independent judgment: external advice, individual reasoning and a documented process, despite openly acknowledging their appointors stood to benefit. Awareness of a benefit isn't the problem, but being driven by it is. For consortium boards, the lesson's simple: declare conflicts early, get advice that's actually independent, and make the minutes prove it: Corrs Chambers Westgarth

⚖️ Employment: The Fair Work Commission has ruled that the Clerks – Private Sector Award 2020, which covers about 1.6 million employees, will get a new Work From Home clause. It's not a new standalone right — the clause just lets an employee ask and an employer agree, which is softer than the existing flexible work request rules under the Fair Work Act. The Full Bench found no real evidence employers are unfairly knocking back WFH requests, but the change could still spark more disputes if requests are refused. Submissions on the draft wording close 17 September 2026: McInnes Wilson

New York City has banned "student-facing generative AI" for around 600,000 public school students until Year 9. Screen time will also be capped for younger years, with exemptions for assistive tech. Mayor Zohran Mamdani says kids need "teachers and human connection" to learn: TDA

Jim Chalmers has carved out an exemption to his 30% minimum tax on trusts. Discretionary trusts that pre-nominate beneficiaries and commit to fixed distributions dodge the tax, and won't have to restructure, avoiding a stamp duty hit. It's the third tweak to the package after backlash from families and small businesses: Capital Brief

🤖 Nvidia has agreed to acquire AI platform Hugging Face for US$12.9bn (A$16.5bn), its biggest acquisition to date. Nvidia is promising to keep the platform open, letting users upload and download any models they like, with the platform still supporting rival chipmakers: Capital Brief

🏘️ Eureka Group has agreed to snap up six assets from Ingenia Communities for $123.8m, chasing NSW's tight housing market. The deal's backed by an $80.2m entitlement offer, plus an $80m debt facility: AFR

⛽️ ExxonMobil is kicking off the sale of its $NZ1bn ($820m) New Zealand business next week. KKR and Carlyle are circling the terminals and 150-plus petrol stations, with Barrenjoey running the process: The Australian