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  1. Pensions – Leading Sets
  2. Pensions – Leading Silks
  3. Pensions – New Silks
  4. Pensions – Leading Juniors

Wilberforce Chambers is the ‘pre-eminent pensions set, with real strength in depth’, and continues to appear at the forefront of all leading pensions cases. With specialist silks such as Brian Green QC, who is recommended for his ‘technical mastery and desire to succeed’, the group is at the helm of pension schemes law. Christopher Nugee QC is ‘brilliant at making a complicated case sound simple and persuasive’ and appeared alongside ten other members in chambers in the Nortel proceedings bought by the pensions regulator. The ‘incredibly pragmatic’ Robert Ham QC has a ‘magisterial presence’, and Michael Furness QC is ‘sensationally clever and makes pensions law readily digestible’. Regularly involved in relation to provisions of the Pensions Act 2004, Paul Newman QC has a ‘strong commercial outlook’, and Michael Tennet QC has expertise in the work of actuaries and is a ‘very creative thinker’. Leading juniors include Jonathan Evans, who is ‘very user friendly and exceptionally good at getting to the point’; Emily Campbell (‘highly intelligent and eager to assist’); Andrew Mold, who is ‘a star of the future’; and the ‘highly impressive’ Jonathan Hilliard. Thomas Seymour’s thriving contentious practice continues, and the ‘very diligent’ Edward Sawyer also impresses.

Praised for its ‘very innovative and client-focused approach’, Outer Temple Chambers has developed an ‘enviable reputation’ for pensions law and is challenging Wilberforce Chambers’ supremacy in the area. Andrew Spink QC is the set’s leading pensions silk and is ‘definitely someone you want on your side’; ‘he has extensive expertise and is a real pleasure to work with’. Andrew Short QC (who took silk in 2010) is also ‘very knowledgeable’ and an ‘excellent performer on his feet’, currently enjoying increased involvement in high-profile pensions cases. Further increasing the set’s critical mass at silk level, Nicolas Stallworthy QC is very highly regarded by clients, who have described his recent elevation to silk as ‘well deserved’; he is ‘reliable and passionate, and never lets you down’. Long acknowledged as a leading junior, Richard Hitchcock has a fine reputation at the pensions Bar, and ‘knows the practice area inside out’. The ‘approachable and intelligent’ Keith Bryant uses his wider employment practice to inform his pensions work; David Grant is ‘academically on the button’; and Naomi Ling is an ‘excellent junior who gets to the heart of the issue very quickly’.

At XXIV Old Buildings, Alan Steinfeld QC heads the pensions team; highly regarded by clients, he is a ‘superb advocate’ who delivers ‘very incisive legal advice’. John Stephens is also ‘a joy to work with; he is bright, hardworking and proactive’.

Recommended for its ‘excellent clerking services and value for money’, Radcliffe Chambers’ pensions barristers ‘work well as a team and are extremely responsive, even when busy’. Keith Rowley QC has a ‘brilliant mix of technical and client-facing skills’, and Elizabeth Ovey is ‘very thorough and prepares well’. Frances Ratcliffe is ‘an approachable and hardworking junior’.

Sarah Asplin QC of 3 Stone Buildings is an ‘excellent communicator, with an incisive mind’. The ‘charming’ Fenner Moeran is also praised for his ‘real enthusiasm for pensions law, and confidence in oral submissions’. The set is praised as ‘working hard to deliver what it promises’.

At the ‘highly responsive and professional’ 5 Stone Buildings, Andrew Simmonds QC is ‘an excellent advocate who is very strong at articulating points clearly in court’, and Christopher Tidmarsh QC is recommended for his ‘extremely hardworking approach and ability to explain technical issues in layman’s terms’. Henry Legge is also highly regarded, for both contentious and advisory work.

Raquel Agnello QC and Thomas Robinson at 11 Stone Buildings are well versed in handling insolvency and regulatory aspects of pensions cases. Elsewhere, clients praise James Clifford from Maitland Chambers as ‘always providing robust advice’; Nigel Burroughs of Four New Square, for his ‘commercial and pragmatic approach’; and Nicholas Randall at Devereux, who is involved in high-profile cases relating to public sector pensions.

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