A UK solicitor apprentice called in sick, except he’d been arrested. He then told his supervisor “no” when asked directly about any arrests. Police dropped the case, but the SRA didn’t: he’s now barred from working at firms without permission and copped £600 in costs. The cover-up really is worse than the crime: Legal Cheek

⚖️ Native Title: The Australian Law Reform Commission has released its final report on the future acts regime, which governs how things like mining leases and infrastructure approvals can validly be granted over native title land. Its 86 recommendations would overhaul the system. The biggest change would scrap the current “batting order” and instead give native title holders procedural rights based on how much a project affects their rights. The report also recommends upfront compensation payments, abolishing the fast-track process for exploration, and making mining lease renewals subject to the right to negotiate. Miners should monitor the Commonwealth’s response, which is yet to come: Ashurst Perkins Coie

⚖️ Construction/Contract: A building contract that fails to identify the works is no contract at all. In Jin v GYG (NSW) Pty Ltd, a homeowner lent $300k to two property developers, secured over one developer’s Collaroy property. The developers’ company then signed him and his wife up to a $3.5m contract to build a new house, and persuaded him to set the loan off against the contract price and withdraw his caveat. Little more than demolition followed. Parker J held both the building contract and the set-off void for uncertainty, as neither plans nor scope of works were identified. The loan therefore remains owing, with the security enforceable, and the couple are prima facie entitled to the $770k paid, less the value of work done: NSWSC

⚖️ Competition: Perfection Fresh, Australia’s second-largest fresh vegetable supplier, has admitted to cartel conduct in the ACCC’s Federal Court proceedings over produce supplied to ALDI. On eleven occasions in 2019 and 2020, it fixed the prices of broccoli, cauliflower and iceberg lettuce sold to ALDI in NSW. The parties will jointly propose a $12m penalty for nine contraventions and one attempted contravention. Perfection Fresh will also continue implementing its competition law compliance program. The Federal Court must still approve the penalty: ACCC

Anthropic’s IPO is about to make its seven cofounders very, very rich. Its S-1 shows each holds roughly 240m shares, with little-known Tom Brown edging out CEO Dario Amodei for the biggest stake. At a US$1.5tn valuation, Brown’s stake is worth about US$24bn. They won’t keep most of it, with each cofounder pledging 80% of their equity to charity: Business Insider

Sunscreen brands will have to prove their SPF claims before going to market under new rules proposed by the TGA. It follows Choice testing last year that found 16 of 20 sunscreens fell short, including one 50+ that tested at SPF 4. Brands would need to test the finished product throughout its shelf life and give results to the regulator: ABC News

🤖 Anthropic has lodged its S-1 for a Nasdaq listing under ticker ANT, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley leading. Macquarie Capital is sub-underwriting for Aussie investors, mirroring its June SpaceX playbook. It’s chasing a valuation of up to US$2tn: Capital Brief, The Australian

🙅 Challenger has knocked back TAL Daiichi Life’s A$11.80-a-share bid for the 79.5% Daiichi doesn’t own, valuing Australia’s largest annuities provider at about A$7.9bn. The board isn’t slamming the door, flagging it’ll engage to find a price it can recommend: Bloomberg

🏡 AVID Property Group has trumped Warburg Pincus in the race for Ingenia Communities, with an unsolicited $5.35-a-share bid backed by an unnamed sovereign wealth fund. Ingenia’s granted AVID up to six weeks’ soft exclusivity and kicked Warburg, whose “best and final” offer was $5.25, out of the data room: ASX, Capital Brief

Neoen, owned by Canadian giant Brookfield, is pledging another $10bn in Aussie wind, solar and batteries by 2030, lifting its capacity from 6GW to 10GW. It’s a bold move while other overseas developers pull back over planning delays and transmission bottlenecks: AFR

NAB is hiring for 172 roles across Asia, with some ads posted the same day it announced 2,500 job cuts. Offshore VP roles pay about half the local rate, with no super guarantee or Aussie IR obligations. Analysts blame a bloated headcount rather than AI, with Jarden calling the cuts “belated”: AFR, Capital Brief

Jetstar is facing a class action over Covid refunds, with internal emails pointing to a “cash preservation policy” that pushed customers towards vouchers. Echo Law, fresh off a $105m settlement with Qantas, alleges vouchers were issued on 1.5 million bookings worth $748m: The Australian

NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie is forgoing $1.6m in bonuses to show shareholders he feels their pain, after delays at its Melbourne M3 data centre sent shares down 40% in a day. It hasn’t calmed the market — the stock slid further. And now Shine Lawyers is now circling for a possible class action: Capital Brief