The top 3 stories from today's briefing, narrated as a short audio episode.
Sign up free to listen. The briefing notes below are free to read.
Briefing Notes
AI & Law
MinterEllison Cuts Graduate Intake by Nearly One-Third Citing AI Workload Absorption, as Legal Sector Grapples with Junior Staffing Shift
MinterEllison has turned AI's productivity argument into a headcount decision — the first major firm to cut graduate intake in direct response to AI absorption of junior work.
M&A
CMA Invites Views on Danone's Anticipated Acquisition of UK Meal-Replacement Brand Huel
Danone-Huel puts UK meal-replacement market definition squarely before the CMA — Phase 2 risk depends on how narrowly the regulator draws the category.
Banking & Finance
TD Bank Is Exploring Tie-Ups with Private Credit Firms to Expand Sponsor-Backed Lending Business
Bank-private credit partnerships are creating a hybrid lending tier that requires new legal structuring — a genuinely novel area of leveraged finance work.
Disputes
US Supreme Court Refuses to Move Black NFL Coach Brian Flores's Racial Bias Claims Into Arbitration, Allowing Court Proceedings to Continue
Mandatory arbitration clauses cannot reliably exclude discrimination claims from court — a line the Supreme Court has now left drawn.
Capital Markets
SpaceX's Successful Starship Test Bolsters IPO Case as SEC Chair Atkins Pushes to 'Make IPOs Great Again'
Regulatory momentum and a landmark test flight are converging to make a SpaceX IPO more conceivable.
Energy & Tech
EU Governments Clear Legislation to Implement US Trade Deal Framework as Brussels Advances Transatlantic Trade Architecture
US-EU trade deal implementation reshapes energy supply contract economics — UK firms outside the framework face a new competitive asymmetry.
Regulation
EU Insurers Call for 'More Ambitious' Competitiveness Agenda from Brussels as Industry Presses for Regulatory Reform
Relaxing Solvency II investment rules for infrastructure debt would redirect hundreds of billions of euros of insurance capital into private markets — reshaping who competes with banks on large project financings.
International
Orrick Raises Newly Qualified Solicitor Pay to £170,000 in London, Joining Escalating US Firm Salary Race
US firms are now setting London's NQ salary floor, not just competing at the top.