Where do young lawyers want to work in 2026? Mallesons rocketed from 6th to 1st in a Lawyers Weekly Survey, which asked lawyers aged 18 to 39 which firms they'd actually consider jumping to. Allens slid from 1st to 4th, while HSF Kramer climbed to 2nd. Culture's clearly not the problem: 83% of young lawyers rate their own firm "excellent" or "good". Pay's another story, with only 59% happy with their packet: Point Blank

⚖️ FIRB: The Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act turns 50 this year. Treasury is marking it with a review. It’s stripping back ineffective or duplicative conditions on existing approvals, starting with tax conditions. Public consultation kicks off in August. Other changes are coming too. The call-in power, which lets the Treasurer review deals that wouldn't otherwise need approval, will extend to notifiable actions, not just significant ones. Low-risk applications get a 30-day target from January 2027. The default validity period for No Objection Notifications will run for 24 months instead of 12. Conditions-based approvals aren't disappearing, but the process should get faster: Clayton Utz

⚖️ WHS: AI use in Australian workplaces is creating new WHS risks, but it might soon become a WHS obligation too. Using AI to monitor workers, allocate tasks or detect fatigue can trigger psychosocial hazards like excessive surveillance and low job control under existing duties. At the same time, employers must eliminate or minimise risk so far as reasonably practicable, meaning once AI-based safety controls become widely available and established, using them may become the expected standard, and failing to adopt them could itself be a breach. Resources Safety and Health Queensland already pushed a mine operator to evaluate AI camera systems after a shuttle car incident: HSF Kramer

⚖️ Capital Markets: Forget the US$75bn price tag, the real takeaway from SpaceX’s IPO is structural. Rather than re-cutting the US prospectus into a typical Australian document, lawyers kept the US disclosures intact and bolted on an Australian ‘wrap’ to satisfy local requirements, letting Australian retail investors apply directly for the first time. ASIC took a principles-based approach, backing the novel format without simply saying no. It’s not a free pass though — ASIC will assess future use deal-by-deal, but has signalled it won’t artificially block retail investors from opportunities already relevant to them. Mallesons calls it a potential roadmap for other global IPO aspirants eyeing Australia: Mallesons

Pay secrecy has long been the norm in the Australian legal market — lawyers comparing notes over drinks, but nothing on the record. We’re curious how the profession feels about changing that.

Batteries, not gas, are now doing the heavy lifting on the grid. Wholesale power prices in the NEM almost halved last quarter to $74/MWh, as batteries banked more cheap solar power during the day. Gas generation hit its lowest Q2 level since 2003. Meanwhile, WA went the other way, prices soaring 30% to a record $117/MWh: Bloomberg

New Victorian premier Ben Carroll is already softening Labor’s work-from-home laws, reopening talks with business groups days into the job. Top of the hit list: the “stacking clause”, which lets staff who’ve already negotiated flexible arrangements bank extra WFH days on top. Employer liability for at-home injuries could also get canned: AFR

🏦 Perpetual has knocked back EQT's third crack at a takeover, calling the $22.50-a-share offer "not in the best interest" of shareholders. Still, it's cracked the door open, granting EQT access to non-public info to see if a sweeter bid emerges: Capital Brief

💵 Grant Thornton is snapping up US rival CBIZ in a US$5bn deal, the accounting industry's biggest merger since Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand joined forces in 1998. The deal creates the fifth-largest professional advisory outfit in the States: Capital Brief

💎 Anglo American is in talks to offload De Beers for a modest US$1bn, a fraction of its former glory. Preferred bidder, Global Diamond Consortium would pay US$750m upfront and US$250m later for the 85% stake: Bloomberg