
City firms keep it in the family with in-house barrister training
The Government Legal Department and the Crown Prosecution Service are the largest providers of in-house pupillage, the 12-month training that must be completed to practise as a barrister.
But over the past few years regulators, banks and just short of 40 law firms, ranging from high street practices including AHS Law and GT Stewart to larger ones such as Candey, DWF and Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen, have started to recruit pupils. Some even have in-house advocacy units that mirror the chambers model.
Browne Jacobson was one of the first law firms to train pupils; since 2010 its advocacy team has grown to
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The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
A ferry link between Scotland and France could be one step closer
A ferry linking Scotland to Europe could be one step closer to reality after a key border obstacle may be resolved. Ferry operator DFDS is planning on launching a service between the town of Rosyth in Fife, Scotland, and Dunkirk in France, as early as spring 2026, allowing for both passengers and freight to be transported between the countries. The route is nicknamed 'Project Brave', and was first proposed in 2022. If instated, the journey could take up to 20 hours, making it among the longest in Europe. One of the main barriers to the project was the need for certain goods to be processed at a border control post. Building a new facility at Rosyth was deemed expensive and unnecessary. DFDS proposed using the existing border control post at Grangemouth, in Scotland, instead, however local politicians say a new UK-EU deal could mean that checks at the posts would no longer be needed. In May, prime minister Keir Starmer confirmed a new agreement with the European Union, which means food and drink can be more easily imported and exported 'by reducing the red tape'. Goods are expected to flow more freely as some routine checks on animal and plant products will be removed. Negotiations are ongoing with the EU to determine specific requirements. Scottish MP Graeme Downie said this week that the new deal could bypass the need for border control posts, according to the Dunfermline Press, but temporary use of Grangemouth will be required for the ferry to launch by spring 2026. 'A regular passenger and freight ferry service from Rosyth to Dunkirk would be an incredible boon for the Dunfermline and Scottish economy, making trade easier as well as making it simpler for people from Europe to visit the kingdom of Fife," he said. 'These matters can be complex but we have taken a huge stride towards making this ferry service a reality.' Secretary of state for Scotland, Ian Murray, has written to Steve Reed, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, detailing how the ferry service could launch without the new border control point, the local paper reported. He asked that for an 'urgent' amendment to the current model, and thanked Mr Murray for his support in finding a temporary workaround. '[The] efforts make it more likely a passenger and freight ferry to Dunkirk could begin as soon as next year,' he said.


Reuters
a minute ago
- Reuters
Third Point Investors Limited shareholders approve Malibu acquisition, statement says
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Shareholders of Third Point Investors Limited (TPOGu.L), opens new tab have voted in favour of a deal that will see the fund acquire Malibu Life Reinsurance SPC, a TPIL statement said on Thursday. The merger with a Cayman-based reinsurer will see the London vehicle morph from a listed equity fund into an annuities specialist that will also be buying asset-backed credit and corporate debt. Billionaire Daniel Loeb proposed in May to transform his Third Point Investors Limited into a reinsurance fund that would invest in the fixed annuity market in the U.S. The UK regulator's new listing rules no longer require a majority support among independent shareholders in related-party transactions, like merging with a company that a manager or CEO also runs. Previous rules would have excluded Loeb's 25% share stake in TPIL from voting, giving minorities an amplified voice. The approved transaction will swap investor shares for Malibu equity at net asset value (NAV). The fund change is designed to address a valuation discount TPIL has to Loeb's New York-based hedge fund Third Point. Like other UK-listed investment companies, TPIL is known as a feeder fund and was originally designed to give retail shareholders a taste of hedge funds that had long been off limits to all but wealthy financiers. By the end of 2027, the new reinsurance operating company expects to deliver mid-teens returns, the company said. Last year TPIL gained 25.5% after fees. This year it has returned just over 3%. A dissenting shareholder group said the acquisition should be put to an independent vote. "The Group is deeply concerned by the way that today's outcome has been reached. As these EGM results make clear, these changes have been conceived, developed, and now forced through by Third Point, the Board and VoteCo, with independent shareholders merely as passengers," a statement from the group said. It includes UK investment firm Asset Value Investors Limited, Metage Capital and Evelyn Partners Investment Management, as well as Australian investment firm Staude Capital and California-based Almitas Capital. Proxy advisers Glass Lewis, backing the deal, and ISS, opposing it, were split on the shareholder vote.


The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Councils slammed for charging ‘fat tax' on burials of larger coffins
Grieving families of obese and overweight people may be stumping up a 'fat tax' when they die in the form of additional burial charges, funeral directors have warned. Some local authorities across the UK now demand extra charges to bury larger coffins, known in the industry as "bariatric burials", with additional costs ranging from under £100 to more than a £1,000 in some areas. A survey of its members by the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) found a quarter of funeral directors now say their local authority charges extra for larger coffins. "The majority of respondents (125 out of 165) indicated that their local cemetery and cremation authority does not charge extra for the burial of large or bariatric coffins. However, a significant minority (40 respondents) reported extra charges," the SAIF said. Speaking to The Independent, Ross Hickton, managing director of Hickton Family Funeral directors in the West Midlands, and who is also the national president of SAIF, said the extra charges were discriminatory. He said: "Obviously families have paid council tax, income tax their entire lives, and now to be slammed with another tax if their loved one is overweight or oversized isn't really fair. He added: "I would call it a fat tax because at the end of the day, people are having to pay extra fees due to their size." The survey was commissioned by SAIF when concerns were raised over Wolverhampton council after it suggested it would implement a 20% extra charge on bariatric burials due to a growing demand for larger graves in cemeteries and graveyards. However, the council has since backtracked on that proposal. Matthew Crawley, chief executive at the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management rejected the idea that additional charges were any kind of "tax" and said local authorities largely "take a measured and reasonable approach in charging for additional space required". "Suitable cemetery land is and has been in crisis for over 20 years, therefore burial space is at a premium,' he said. 'Historically graves in a Victorian cemetery may have been 3'5" wide, and this has increased to 4'5"-5' steadily over several years, suggesting that cemeteries are adapting to requirements rather than applying a 'tax' of any kind." Wolverhampton council has also stoked controversy after its councillors reportedly decided to introduce a new dedicated section for larger graves at the city's Danescourt Cemetery in Tettenhall in May this year. Mr Hickton said: "They've indicated they may open a separate section for bariatric and large coffins in cemeteries. It's a separate section which is penalising and stigmatising. It is absolutely nuts." A City of Wolverhampton Council spokesperson told The Independent: 'No formal decision was ever taken on plans to charge more for larger burial plots. 'This is a common practice taken by councils around the country where higher charges cover the costs of providing a larger plot. 'However, while under consideration, we have decided not to proceed with the plans.'