Pensions in London Bar | Law firm and lawyer rankings from The Legal 500 United Kingdom - The Bar guide

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Pensions - Leading Sets

Wilberforce Chambers

Outer Temple Chambers

Radcliffe Chambers

Leading Silks

Brian Green QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Very experienced and knowledgeable pensions silk who presents with style, and is charming to a fault. ’

Paul Newman QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ He has a first-class mind and is well-known for his courtroom manner and robust pragmatism. ’

Keith Rowley QC - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ Strides the pensions arena like few others and is rightly lauded as one of the pre-eminent pensions silks. ’

Andrew Short QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ The pre-eminent QC for pensions work where there is an employment element and a pleasure to work with. ’

Andrew Simmonds QC - 5 Stone Buildings ‘ First class on his feet in presenting a case and will stand up to a hostile judge. ’

Andrew Spink QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Personable, great with clients and as an advocate; adopts a calm, knowledgeable and impressive approach. ’

Nicolas Stallworthy QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Technically excellent and full of ideas. ’

Michael Tennet QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Best all round pensions silk, incredibly hardworking, committed and very personable with lay clients. ’

Michael Furness QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Hugely experienced with an encyclopaedic knowledge of pensions law. ’

Fenner Moeran QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ First-rate on handling pensions disputes, particularly those with a scams focus. ’

Raquel Agnello QC - Erskine Chambers ‘ She is an engaging, characterful advocate, conveying a passionate belief in her client’s case. ’

Keith Bryant QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Exceptional legal analysis combined with an accessible and client-friendly approach. ’

Jonathan Davey QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ A top-class silk. His advocacy is attractive, thoughtful and measured. ’

Robert Ham QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ An intellectual giant, who always finds a pragmatic solution and is brilliant with clients. ’

Jonathan Hilliard QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Extremely bright, highly knowledgeable and explains difficult concepts clearly. ’

Richard Hitchcock QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Extremely bright, brilliantly creative and masterful in court – his judgement is superb’ ’

Ben Hubble QC - 4 New Square ‘ Very good on the formulation of case strategy and an impressive ability to get to grips quickly with factual complexity. ’

Dinah Rose QC - Blackstone Chambers Barristers ‘ Wonderfully engaging, smart barrister, excellent persuasive advocate. ’

Alan Steinfeld QC - XXIV Old Buildings ‘ His advocacy is tremendous and he really does have the ear of the court. ’

Leading Juniors

David Grant - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ A very impressive junior, who is very personable and works very hard. ’

Andrew Mold - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Really the go-to senior junior for tricky pensions work. ’

Edward Sawyer - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Considerable insight on procedural and tactical issues, adopting a thorough and “no stones unturned” approach. ’

Sebastian Allen - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Highly intelligent, articulate and always very precise in his thinking and drafting. ’

Emily Campbell - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Very organised, highly intelligent, strategically sound and very accessible. ’

Fraser Campbell - Blackstone Chambers Barristers ‘ He has a knack of breaking down complex problems in an understandable and logical way. ’

Elizabeth Ovey - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ Hugely experienced pension barrister with a razor sharp intellect who picks matters up very quickly, and is thoroughly dependable when matters have to be turned round promptly. ’

James Clifford - Maitland Chambers ‘ An impressive and formidable knowledge of pensions law. ’

Henry Day - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ An excellent junior; he is calm under pressure, practical and very bright. ’

Farhaz Khan - 3 Verulam Buildings ‘ Highly flexible and punching well above his weight. ’

Naomi Ling - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Fearless in litigation and does not sit on the fence. ’

Saul Margo - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ His considerable intellect and personable manner make him well-suited to both complex employment and pensions cases. ’

James McCreath - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Real expertise in pensions matters, a true technician and extremely hardworking. ’

Thomas Robinson - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Very enjoyable, pleasant to work with and impressive in meetings with clients. ’

Katherine Apps - 39 Essex Chambers ‘ Hugely intelligent and hardworking junior – someone clients can rely on to get the right answer. ’

Nigel Burroughs - 4 New Square ‘ Technically very strong, especially in interpreting complex trust deeds. ’

Jonathan Chew - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ A great team player with a considerable appetite for work and eye for detail. ’

Benjamin Faulkner - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Extremely bright and hardworking junior with great presence beyond his call. ’

Bobby Friedman - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Excellent on paper and a punchy advocate, with a very good knowledge of pensions and related areas of law. ’

Nicholas Hill - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ He is a very good pensions junior. ’

Wendy Mathers - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ A real fighter and someone you would want on your side. ’

Emily McKechnie - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Extremely pragmatic, diligent and very good at appealing to clients and judges alike. ’

Simon Oakes - Quadrant Chambers ‘ An effective and valuable junior counsel, who is a very competent young barrister with the ability to think quickly. ’

Jennifer Seaman - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ A junior of real talent and ability; she provides superb support both as a junior and an able advocate in her own right. ’

Lydia Seymour - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ A go-to junior in the employment/pensions area. ’

Thomas Seymour - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Very thorough and reliable analysis of tricky trust law issues. ’

Michael Uberoi - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ His written and oral advocacy is clear and persuasive and he is a pleasure to work with. ’

James Walmsley - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Fast coming up through the ranks as a go-to pensions counsel. ’

Pensions in London Bar

Tier 1 firms

Considered the 'pre-eminent set for pensions' by its clients, Wilberforce Chambers ‘is unrivalled in the area of pensions', has 'unparalleled strength-in-depth' and is 'full of iron brains'. In one standout instruction, Brian Green QC acted for the trustees of the BT Pension Scheme on several issues affecting the pensions of 24,000 members and £2bn liabilities. Meanwhile, in the Court of Appeal, Michael Tennet QC was successful for British Airways in a claim that is considered important in clarifying the roles and responsibilities of trustees. Also of note, Michael Furness QC represents ITV In a case regarding the Box Clever Pension Scheme, which consider's the television network's liabilities for the scheme's deficit.

Tier 2 firms

Outer Temple Chambers increasingly 'offers a competitive' alternative to Wilberforce Chambers, according to its clients, and is rated very highly for pensions litigation in particular. Andrew Spink QC and other members of chambers are involved in the Project Waltz proceedings (IBM UK Ltd & IBM Holdings Ltd v Dalgleish & Others), while Nicolas Stallworthy QC is acting for the trustees of the Barnado's Pension Scheme in the Supreme Court. Andrew Short QC is engaged in the important test case of Lloyds Banking Group Pension Trustees v Lloyds Bank Plc & Others with industry-wide implications which include a multitude of issues arising out of the equalisation of GMPs.

Tier 3 firms

Radcliffe Chambers' workload 'features in an ever-increasing number of the high profile pensions cases'. Recent case highlights include top-tier silk Keith Rowley QC acting for the banks in the landmark GMP equalisation case of Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Ltd v Lloyds Bank plc & others. He also represented the respondent trustee of the Airways Pension Scheme in British Airways plc v Airways Pension Scheme Trustee Limited with up-and-coming junior Henry Day.