Judge's war with College of Law

👋 G’day

Today’s brief:

• Chief Judge Bell targets College of Law’s $19m surplus.

• Hamilton Locke recruits five new partners.

• ASIC’s Star Casino trial kicks off Monday, with one director opting to settle.

Enjoy your Friday night drinks 🍻

PRACTICE POINTS

ASIC’s showstopper Star trial

• ASIC’s blockbuster civil case against Star Casino kicks off Monday, 10 Feb. Back in 2022, ASIC went after the Star Group and 11 directors for failing to tackle money laundering risks in breach of s 180 of the Corps Act. On Wednesday, former CFO Harry Theodore settled with a 9-month director ban, and now Michael Lee J—fresh off the Bruce Lehrmann v Channel 10 case—will preside over a roughly six-week trial. Get ready for some courtroom fireworks: The Australian

• ASIC also has AussieSuper in its sights, with an investigation into delays in paying death benefits to beneficiaries. The probe follows an internal review that revealed lengthy waits for claims, prompting the superannuation giant to cough up millions in compensation. But ASIC’s doing its own digging around, similar to the Cbus case from last year.

• AUSTRAC’s new powers under the amended anti-money laundering legislation are a game-changer, putting it on equal footing with ASIC and APRA in the enforcement stakes. Now, AUSTRAC can demand documents related to compliance with the anti-money laundering scheme—fail to comply, and the penalties will follow.

WORD ON THE STREET

Partner poaching frenzy

Massive partner moves this week👇

• Hamilton Locke just expanded its partnership with five new top-tier recruits:

  • Andrea Kennedy (Baker McKenzie) – Private M&A pro, Melbourne

  • James Nicholls (DLA Piper) – Cross-border M&A and IPOs, Perth

  • James Patto (PwC) – Leading IP and tech, Melbourne

  • Mark Payne (Corrs) – Tax expert, Sydney

  • Sophie Uhlhorn (Corrs) – Complex litigation, Melbourne

• In a huge move, 62 lawyers have jumped ship from Hall & Wilcox to private equity-backed insurance specialist DWF. This mass exodus follows the nine partners the British firm snapped up in November: Australasian Lawyer

• The partner exodus at Corrs shows no sign of slowing down. Disputes partner Ben Davidson is the latest to jump ship to KWM, bringing the total of partners who've made the switch between the two firms to nine: AFR

• Dentons just poached two big names: projects partner Matt Coleman from Baker McKenzie (Melbourne) and financial institutions partner Louise McCoach from Gilbert + Tobin (Sydney): Lawyers Weekly

TALKING POINTS

Judge at war with the College of Law

• NSW’s chief judge, Andrew Bell, is picking a fight with the College of Law and their $19m surplus. In a fiery public address, he slammed PLT's “extremely high fees”, calling out the college for charging students more than it should—especially for a "proudly not-for-profit" institution that touts (wait for it..) "learning – not earning." After a sit-down with Bell, the College cut its fees to $9.6k and promised more reviews, but the judge isn’t done yet—he’s pushing for fee forgiveness: SMH

• And Judge Bell has also taken aim at Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, accusing him of inflaming antisemitism with his support for far-right parties and casual nods to Nazi figures. CJ Bell warned that Musk’s unaccountable political influence in the US through proximity and patronage poses a serious threat to the rule of law: AFR

• Trump’s sweeping federal hiring freeze has thrown a wrench into the job market for US law students eyeing government careers. The US DOJ and other federal agencies have pulled permanent job offers from dozens of third-year law students who’d secured spots through their competitive honours programs. To add insult to injury, summer internship programs have been axed, leaving hundreds more without opportunities: Reuters

• Class actions in Australia are on the rise, with Monash Business School’s Professor Vince Morabito predicting that the number of filings will hit 1,000 by 2025. And it’s not just the volume that’s growing—group costs orders, which let law firms pocket a percentage of the action’s profit, have seen a major bump, jumping from 24.5% in 2022 to 28.75% in 2024: Lawyerly

TREASURY

DEAL ROOM

Mecca on the market?

• Mecca Brands, the cosmetics giant with $1bn in annual revenue and 21.2% of the Aussie makeup market, is rumoured to be up for sale as competition ramps up. With potential buyers like Sephora circling and pressure from emerging brands, an exit seems increasingly likely: The Australian

• Platinum Equity’s ready to offload Winc—the office supplies brand they rebranded from Staples’ back in 2017. The plan? A two-part auction that could turn into one of the biggest private equity deals in Australia this year: AFR

• Nissan’s merger with Honda? Dead in the water. But no worries, they’ve got their eyes on a new partner—Taiwan’s Foxconn: Reuters

• Zinc and silver explorer Polymetals is gearing up for a $20m to $30m capital raising, fueled by a 200%+ surge in its share price over the past year: AFR

• While it fights for Insignia, Bain Capital is in talks to snap up Healthscope's debt, sticking to its game plan of targeting financially strained companies for acquisition.

SECTOR SPECIFIC

Victoria’s gas crisis

🚜 DIGGERS

• MinRes’ Onslow haul road just saw its fifth road train crash. Over the weekend, an iron ore truck flipped, adding to the string of four accidents between August and November. The timing is apt. Just a week after CEO Mike Grey confidently declared, “we haven’t seen another incident and nor should we”: AFR

• Woodside warns Victoria’s facing a gas shortfall, thanks to years of anti-fossil fuel politics. With local production on the decline, the state may need to import LNG, pushing prices up: The Australian

• Rio is calling BS on the Coalition’s claims that smelters can’t go green. With falling battery prices, Rio believes its aluminium smelters—like Boyne and Tomago—can now run on renewable energy: The Australian

🏦 FIN

• Macquarie’s axing its US debt capital markets division and going all-in on its private credit business, through which it has already lent over $22.5bn. Traditional bonds and loans? Out the door, just like in Europe: AFR

• McKinsey & Co. partners are raising eyebrows about the firm’s China operations. Senior partners have been voicing concerns since late last year, even before Trump’s re-election and his vow to ramp up pressure on China, sources say. The growing unease is hard to ignore. Could similar concerns be raised by the Chinese-integrated law firm King & Wood Mallesons?

🏡 RETAIL & REAL ESTATE

• Melbourne's office market is still stuck in a pandemic hangover—almost 20% of space remains empty despite a slight drop in supply. Even as one of the world's most locked-down cities, vacancies stubbornly hover at 18%, according to the Property Council of Australia.

• Domino’s is closing 205 unprofitable stores as sales take a hit, with a strategy review now underway. The pizza giant reported a 0.6% dip in same-store sales for the first half and expects a statutory loss due to the cost of shutting down these underperforming locations.

📱 TECH

• Big players like TPG, CBA, Optus, and Telstra are hitting pause on DeepSeek after the launch of the Chinese AI model. It’s a swift move in response to growing concerns. The Fed Gov announced its ban on the platform for workplace devices “to protect Australia’s national security and national interest”. The US has even found code that leaks logins: Sky News, Capital Brief

• Google will scrap its diversity and inclusion programs, which sought to employ workers from under-represented communities: The Australian

• TPG’s got its sights set on Telstra customers, thanks to a new network-sharing deal with Optus. The agreement gives TPG access to Optus’ regional phone network, opening the door to expand its presence in regional Australia, where it’s had a pretty limited footprint: AFR

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