Perkins Coie — the firm soon to partner up with Ashurst — is using AI avatars to teach junior lawyers how to talk to partners, calling it "a safe place to fail." The firm partnered with Levra, founded by a former Clifford Chance associate, to develop simulations for juniors to boost their interpersonal skills. The irony when firms turn to robots to teach their juniors how to communicate with their partners: NB

⚖️ Contract: It’s time to review your Force Majeure clauses. The escalating Middle East conflict is disrupting shipping routes, energy markets and supply chains, with multiple major producers already declaring force majeure, including over Qatar's LNG facilities. KWM flags that businesses need to act now. Force Majeure relief depends entirely on the clause's wording and governing law; increased costs or reduced profitability alone won't cut it. The doctrine of frustration is narrower still and automatically kills the contract. Getting it wrong is a dangerous game — incorrectly invoking either can itself amount to a repudiatory breach: KWM

⚖️ Corporate: The Takeovers Panel hasn't held back after the Emu NL saga. Incumbent directors (1) repeatedly defied interim orders, (2) postponed a shareholder-requisitioned EGM multiple times, (3) pushed through a dilutive share placement before the rescheduled meeting, (4) and heavily redacted the requisitioning shareholders' statement. Costs were ordered against the company and its former directors personally, even though the directors weren't parties to the proceedings. Off the back of this, the Panel is now consulting on revised Guidance Note 4, proposing to drop the longstanding position that costs orders are the "exception not the rule": Ashurst

⚖️ Employment: The Department of Defence has been convicted and fined $188k for failing to manage psychosocial hazards. The Court’s findings came after a 34-year-old Royal Australian Air Force technician died following four separate "work plans" in six months. Despite the worker displaying clear signs of distress, supervisors didn't refer him for support, place him on leave, or pause the work plan process. Comcare's investigation found Defence's own policies identified the risks but controls weren't applied in practice. The court also made an adverse publicity order under s 236 of the WHS Act: Kingston Reid

JPMorgan processed over US$1bn in transactions for Jeffrey Epstein across 15 years, letting him withdraw more than US$5m in cash suspected of funding sex trafficking. Staff flagged concerns early, but senior bankers kept the account open. At various times, Epstein was one of the biggest income generators for the bank. And at one point, two 18-year-old "models" walked into a branch listing Epstein as guarantor. The bank opened the accounts anyway. CEO Jamie Dimon insists he never met the man: FT

Victoria's just settled the COVID class action for $125m rather than face a 12-week trial, with Quinn Emanuel acting for around 1,000 retail businesses. The payout's reportedly north of $50m, which sounds decent until you clock the claim was worth up to $2.6bn. The state, repped by HSF Kramer, was staring down a ~$40m legal bill anyway, so it cut its losses. The settlement is subject to Supreme Court approval: AFR, Lawyerly

👀 A PE consortium fronted by a high-profile mining identity is circling BHP's mothballed Nickel West operations. Sources point to Andrew Forrest as the logical candidate. One scenario has Forrest spinning his existing nickel interests (including Wyloo Metals) into a PE-backed vehicle. BHP's agreed to retain $2bn to $3bn in rehab liabilities: The Australian

🔋 WinDC, the renewable-powered data centre start-up, has launched a $176m Series A raise to fund its first deployment. The pitch: regional Australia generates more wind and solar than the grid can carry to cities, so WinDC wants to place shipping container-sized data centres right at the source: AFR