A HWLE partner has copped a reprimand and $10k fine for texting his builder over 100 times with some unhinged messages. He called him “dodgy and useless,” threatened to “bite you hard,” bankrupt him, post defects on Instagram, and told him to “run and hide.” Some came from his work email, signature block included: Lawyers Weekly

⚖️ Construction: In Azure Project 19 v 5 Point Projects, the Queensland Supreme Court found an adjudicator committed jurisdictional error by dismissing the date of practical completion as ‘immaterial’ — a conclusion with no footing in the contract or either party's submissions. Kelly J confirmed adjudicators must base decisions solely on the matters listed in s 88(2) of the Building Industry Fairness Act: being the Act, the contract, the payment claim and schedule, the parties' submissions and any inspection undertaken by the adjudicator. The adjudicator need only genuinely engage with submissions, not resolve every issue. Here, the adjudicator invented a basis outside all of that. The Court severed the tainted portion, trimming the adjudicated amount by $130k: MinterEllison

⚖️ Corporate: Want to know how directors fared in 2025? Mallesons' new Oversight digest has crunched the year's cases, and it's a mixed bag for ASIC. In ASIC v Bekier, the Star's former CEO and CLRO were found to have breached their s 180 duties by hiding money laundering risks from the board, but all seven NEDs were cleared. ASIC also scored a win in ASIC v iSignthis — the former CEO was hit with a six-year ban and $1m fine for deliberate, prolonged ASX misrepresentations. But the regulator lost big in ASIC v Nuix and ASIC v TerraCom, with courts finding no misleading conduct in both cases: Mallesons

⚖️ AML/CTF: AUSTRAC has finalised its enforceable undertaking with Sportsbet after it completed a significant remediation program to uplift its AML/CTF systems, controls and governance. The undertaking, accepted in May 2024, followed AUSTRAC's concerns about Sportsbet's approach to risk assessment, customer monitoring and suspicious matter reporting. Sportsbet was required to uplift five key areas of its AML/CTF policies and processes, with an independent external auditor confirming all required remediation had been implemented and operationalised. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas made clear that the online gambling sector still remains squarely in the regulator's sights: AUSTRAC

UK lawyers now face being struck off for not using AI. The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Vos, says skipping AI tools when a "reasonable lawyer" would've used them could count as negligence, comparing holdouts to radiologists ignoring cancer-detecting software: AFR

Australia just agreed to sell uranium to India for power generation, a landmark deal signed during Modi's Melbourne visit with Albanese. The uranium is for peaceful use, boosting India's non-fossil fuel capacity and giving its clean energy push "fresh momentum". BHP's Olympic Dam and Boss Energy's Honeymoon mine stand to benefit most from the deal: Bloomberg, AFR

🏗️ FDC Consolidated just landed the year's biggest ASX debut, raising $400m at almost a $1bn valuation and popping 12.3% on listing day. MA Financial's Ricardo Cerqueira thinks it signals more floats are coming: Capital Brief

💊 Sigma Healthcare's billionaire founders are cashing in, with Chemist Warehouse brothers Sam and Jack Gance flagging plans to offload up to 20% of their near-$8bn combined stake once escrow lifts on 27 August: AFR