Lawyer struck off for 22.9 hours billed

Slaters reshuffles board amid scandal

Law students sleep more than most

ASIC Chair Joe Longo says the regulator will now target 35 civil cases a year, after delivering $104m in penalties last year. It’s the first time the regulator has established a case quota. Super trustees, private credit markets, and the ASX’s recent outages are all under the microscope. ASIC has also launched fresh proceedings against Equity Trustees over the $160m Shield Master Fund. With Australians’ faith in super trustees “tested”, ASIC is setting baseline response times for misconduct reports and new KPIs for investigations: The Australian

The WA Court of Appeal has dismissed a shareholder’s bid to block a s 444GA share transfer in Yeeda Pastoral. The Court confirmed the “unfair prejudice” test sets a high bar once creditors back a DOCA, especially where liquidation is the alternative. Fitzroy River argued Yeeda’s shares still had value, but the Court found liabilities far outweighed assets. It also flagged strict evidentiary rules: administrator valuations based on comparable sales must be backed by admissible proof, not hearsay. Failure to object at first instance can also limit appeals. For challengers, timing and evidence are everything—for administrators, poorly supported valuations risk being thrown out: Corrs

ASIC has launched civil penalty proceedings against Equity Trustees Superannuation, alleging it failed to perform proper due diligence before funnelling $160m of members’ super into the untested Shield Master Fund. Deputy Chair Sarah Court said members’ balances were eroded because the trustee “failed as a gatekeeper”. ASIC claims Equity Trustees breached duties to act with care, skill, and in members’ best interests, and to provide services efficiently, honestly and fairly. ASIC is seeking declarations and penalties, signalling a sharper focus on trustee accountability: ASIC

No one likes recording their time, but a former senior associate at the UK’s Irwin Mitchell has taken it to the next level. She’s been struck off after recording inflated timesheets, including one day with 22.9 billable hours. The SDT found years of “misleading and dishonest” billing. The SA blamed pressure, grief and workload, but the tribunal wasn’t moved. She’s also been hit with £5.2k in costs: Legal Cheek

Slater and Gordon is set to refresh its board, with chairman James MacKenzie and two directors stepping down as Allegro Funds looks to reset the firm post-scandal. The move follows a widely circulated email leak exposing salaries and grievances, and a legal claim from the firm’s former CPO. The trio will stay until Allegro appoints replacements: AFR

A new Thomson Reuters report shows firms outside Australia’s Big 8 firms are no longer just playing catch-up - they’re overtaking. In FY25, they outperformed the big eight in demand, revenue, and PPEP, with half the top 10 firms by profit now from the challenger camp. Their secret? Aggressive growth and counter-cyclical strategy: Lawyers Weekly

New UK research has found law students are among the least sleep-deprived, logging fewer study hours and assignments than peers in nursing, medicine or maths. Law scored just 24.3 on the “sleep deprivation index”, compared to 52.2 for health students. Just 21% have considered dropping out. That’s well below other courses. Turns out law might not be the all-nighter grind people think: Legal Cheek

From 1 October, all first-home buyers can purchase with just a 5% deposit, with the government covering lenders’ mortgage insurance. Property caps jump to $1.5m in Sydney, up from $900k. Labor says it’s a “game changer”, but critics warn scrapping income limits could hand taxpayer support to the wealthy and leave buyers overexposed on 95% mortgages: TDA

In a move not seen since WWII, Anthony Albanese has expelled Iran’s ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi from the country after ASIO found that Tehran directed firebombings of Jewish targets in Syd and Melb. Albanese called it “the most serious response any Australian government has given”. Sadeghi has seven days to leave: Capital Brief

US Fed governor Lisa Cook is refusing to quit after Donald Trump claimed he was firing her over alleged mortgage fraud. Cook says the president has “no authority” to remove her and vows to fight it in court. If Trump succeeds, he’d secure a 4–3 majority on the Fed Reserve board, raising fears over central bank independence: ABC News

Klarna: is dusting off its US IPO plans, chasing a US$13–14bn valuation and aiming to raise ~US$1bn. Shares could price at US$34–36, well down from the US$50bn peak it eyed in 2021. Klarna’s renewed IPO hype will help revive its BNPL-fuelled growth story: Reuters

Betr: has upped its PointsBet bid to 4.375 shares per PBH share, valuing it at $1.40 against MIXI’s “best and final” $1.25 cash offer. Betr also lifted its buy-back pool to $90m. MIXI, sitting on 37.1% and chasing 90% control, faces a stubborn rival that already owns 19.6% and insists its scrip deal stacks up better on value: Capital Brief

La Trobe: could see a Bain–Axight reunion, with Clark Feng (ex-Bain, now Axight boss) tipped to link up with Bain’s Mike Murphy on Brookfield’s $2.5bn+ sale. They’d face Warburg Pincus and CVC, with final bids looming. Brookfield, which bought La Trobe in 2022, has grown its assets to $20bn and 110k investors: AFR

MinRes is giving a new meaning to brothers in arms - the miner will buy the failed Resource Development Group, run by Andrew Ellison, brother of MinRes boss Chris Ellison. Administrators said RDG’s Lucky Bay garnet mine was underfunded and reliant on $146m in MinRes loans to stay afloat. Despite seven rival proposals, creditors were told MinRes’ bid delivered the best return versus liquidation: AFR

Twiggy talks green, but Fortescue’s site says otherwise. In his annual letter, Andrew Forrest praised those with “courage” to stay the course on climate, vowing green hydrogen’s “day is coming”. Yet Fortescue’s emissions jumped 12%, it wrote off $244m in clean energy spend, and its once-loud “eliminating emissions” webpage now returns a 404 error…AFR

Humm board standoff deepens. Chairman Andrew Abercrombie has refused to sign off on the group’s annual accounts, forcing a third delay to results. The move heightens tensions as his $286m takeover bid hangs over the company. An independent committee is vetting the offer, but investors are uneasy: Abercrombie is both the biggest shareholder and suitor, raising governance red flags: AFR

New CEO Richard Fennell is pitching Bendigo as a “better big bank”, slashing costs, closing 10 branches and setting a bold target to lift ROE above 10% by 2030 (vs 7.3% today). Investors liked it, sending shares up 2.5% even as cash earnings fell 8.4% to $526m: The Australian

Scentre Group has lifted guidance after 340 million shoppers flocked to its 42 malls in the past year, driving record $29.3bn in sales. CEO Elliott Rusanow says WFH has made centres winners, with people working, shopping and eating closer to home: The Australian

Sales at Dan Murphy’s and BWS fell 1.3% in the first seven weeks of FY26, putting Endeavour on track for its fifth drop in six quarters. Interim CEO Kate Beattie says the “worst of the dip” is over, pinning hopes on summer trading. With net profit down 16% to $426m, incoming CEO Jayne Hrdlicka is already reviewing strategy with Bain, fuelling talk of asset sales or demergers: AFR

Trump warned he’ll slap tariffs on countries that regulate or tax US tech giants, targeting laws like Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code. But Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino says consultation with Google, Meta and publishers will continue. Media firms fear delays, with Google’s five-year deals set to expire in 2026 and Meta already walking away from news payments: AFR

Google and Microsoft push to weaken copyright laws. Tech giants have urged Labor to adopt text and data mining exemptions, warning Australia could miss out on AI investment if laws don’t change. Google says uncertainty could drive capital to Asia, while Microsoft calls for legal clarity. Media and creative groups call it theft, setting up a copyright clash between Silicon Valley and Australian publishers: Capital Brief