Clifford Chance wants nearly US$5.8m in profit distributions back from two US partners after they left the firm for Sidley Austin in Jan. CC wanted one partner to fork over US$4.4m and the other to give back US$1.4m under its English partnership agreement. And now the pair are suing right back, arguing that English partnership law shouldn’t trump New York's rules against penalising lawyers for switching firms: NB

⚖️ Indemnities: Directors banking on an upfront indemnity for legal costs just got a reality check. The NSW Court of Appeal overturned a ruling that Keybridge Capital had to fund Nicholas Bolton's defence costs in a breach of duty claim, finding his director's deed's broad indemnity couldn't lawfully cover costs while his liability remained unresolved. Under s 199A of the Corporations Act, a company can't indemnify a director for legal costs if he's ultimately found liable, so any “indemnity” clause promising unconditional payment is void to that extent. Bolton's claim against Keybrige was dismissed, with costs awarded against him.

⚖️ Discovery: Pushing too hard on discovery timelines can backfire. In the Federal Court class action over the Work for Dole program, Justice Bennett refused the applicant's request for an extra tranche of discovery. She raised concerns about overworking lawyers, especially after an "unusual" G Drive turned up with 20,000 documents, even though the Commonwealth had already put 37 lawyers on the case. Instead of granting more discovery, she ordered the Commonwealth to report on its review progress with each new tranche: Lawyerly

⚖️ IP: Firing off an IP infringement letter without solid backup is risky business. In Comino v Watson Webb Pty Ltd, the Full Federal Court found that a letter from Mr Comino's solicitors, asserting AVI's ball valves infringed his registered design and demanding an undertaking, was an unjustified threat under the Designs Act's s 77 regime. Once a threat is shown, it's prima facie unjustified — the threat‑maker can only escape liability by proving the design is registered, examined, and actually infringed. Get your evidence locked down before you send the letter, not after: Mallesons

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Australia might have a STEM problem on its hands. Demand for STEM grads is set to jump 24% by 2035, but Year 12 STEM participation's actually dropped 10% over the last decade. Canberra's fix is money, bumping the Prime Minister's Science Prizes to $250k and expanding Free TAFE so students can train in fields like clean energy and advanced manufacturing without stumping up course fees: Capital Brief

Australia and Fiji just signed their first-ever mutual defence treaty, named "Ocean of Peace" deal. It's Canberra's latest move to lock down the Pacific and squeeze China out, following similar deals with Vanuatu, PNG and Tuvalu. New Zealand is keen to join too: Bloomberg

🚀 Gilmour Space is riding the SpaceX halo effect, tapping Citi to lead a $US200m-plus pre-IPO raise as it eyes a US listing in 18 to 24 months. The Queensland rocket outfit thinks Musk's trillion dollar float has investors newly convinced space is a real asset class: AFR

🅿️ Orikan, the Melbourne-based parking and compliance tech provider, is being snapped up by Sweden's EQT, with the AFR estimating EQT paid around $475m. The business, currently owned by Five V Capital, serves councils, universities and transport agencies across Australia, NZ and North America: Reuters, AFR