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Pensions

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Wilberforce Chambers
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Outer Temple Chambers
3
Radcliffe Chambers

Leading Silks

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Michael Furness QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Outstanding technician - absolutely unparalleled technical knowledge he is someone Judges listen to. One of the most highly respected individuals in this area. ’
Brian Green QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ An absolutely top flyer in this sphere. Outstanding advocate, hugely clever, profound expertise, and incredibly supportive of his instructing solicitors. ’
Paul Newman QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Very quick, very user friendly and a real team player. ’
Keith Rowley QC - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ One of the most senior and respected pensions silks whose knowledge of the area is second to none. ’
Andrew Short QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Andrew is at the top of his game at the moment, is much in demand and is acting on many of the significant disputes currently going through the courts. ’
Andrew Spink QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Andrew is brilliantly attuned to the commercial environment in which he advises, and provides advice and strategies that are tailor made to addressing the client's needs. ’
Nicolas Stallworthy QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Nicolas is an intellectual giant and tireless worker and inspirational litigation lead counsel in the shoes of an affable gentleman ’
Michael Tennet QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Intellectually very strong and brings a lot of creativity, very collaborative and works hard to drive the team and client forward. ’
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Keith Bryant QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Very calm. Strong analysis of complexity. Good on seeing wood for trees. Responsive and supportive. ’
Jonathan Hilliard QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Jonathan is bright and insightful. A good communicator and makes himself available. ’
Fenner Moeran QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ A master in pensions law, particularly with an international dimension. Unusual to find a barrister with such a keen intellect, but who can also see the bigger picture. Delivers extremely insightful advice as a result. ’
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Raquel Agnello QC - Erskine Chambers
James Goudie QC  - 11KBW ‘Detailed knowledge across a broad range of local authority law and presents it in a clear way with no extraneous advice.’
Richard Hitchcock QC - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Fabulous intellect, creative, very client-friendly and commercial, a real all -rounder. ’
Ben Hubble QC - 4 New Square ‘ Excellent, clear advice. Clear subject matter expertise. Very pleasant to deal with. ’
Henry Legge QC - 5 Stone Buildings ‘ Henry is highly intelligent, charming in person and has a profound grasp of the issues. ’
Christopher Tidmarsh QC - 5 Stone Buildings

2020 Silks

Andrew Mold QC - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Andrew goes from strength to strength. He is a highly regarded and very well-liked member of the pensions bar. Easy to work with and technically excellent. ’

Leading Juniors

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David Grant - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ A true expert in pensions rectification work, one of the leading senior juniors at the pensions Bar. ’
Edward Sawyer - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Edward is always my first choice in the pensions litigation space. Extremely bright and hard working, a great team player and someone who always over delivers. He will almost certainly be a QC in the near future. ’
2
Sebastian Allen - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Bright, astute, calm and unflappable. He is personable, easy to deal with and an excellent strategic thinker. ’
Fraser Campbell – Blackstone Chambers ‘Proactive, personable and perceptive. Incredibly responsive. A true intellect, but always commercial. ’
Nicholas Hill - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Excellent with clients. Very bright and practical. I would highly recommend him - I use him frequently. He is a superb lawyer. ’
Naomi Ling - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Naomi is methodical and clear in her advice. She is also exceptionally personable and easy to work with. ’
Elizabeth Ovey - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ Elizabeth is a congenial barrister with excellent communication skills and rapier-like legal perception - her opinions are a intellectual tour de force. ’
Lydia Seymour - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ She is very experienced with great technical knowledge which she can distil into layman's terms. ’
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Emily Campbell - Wilberforce Chambers
Henry Day - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ He is lovely to work with - very calm, thorough, and clever. He has good judgment and gets on well with solicitors and clients alike. ’
Saul Margo - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Saul is an excellent senior junior. His analysis is perceptive and acute and he can master the details of a large and complex case. ’
Wendy Mathers - Radcliffe Chambers ‘ Wendy combines strong analytical skills with a user friendly and approachable manner. ’
James McCreath - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ James is an outstanding junior. He is as smart as they come, very diligent, and an absolute pleasure to work with. ’
Saaman Pourghadiri - 4 New Square ‘ Academically very strong but with a practical approach and never loses sight of the client's overall objectives. He is a clear and persuasive advocate, both in writing and on his feet. ’
Thomas Robinson - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Calm, pragmatic and impressive. An excellent manner. ’
Michael Uberoi - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Michael is an absolute delight to work with. He is not only technically outstanding, he is also incredibly hardworking and is brilliant with clients. ’
James Walmsley - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ James is respected for his acumen and raw intelligence, particularly in actuarial or financial matters. ’
4
Katherine Apps - 39 Essex Chambers ‘ She's very bright. A QC in all but name. ’
Michael Ashdown - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Technically excellent, hugely enthusiastic and extremely diligent. ’
Nigel Burroughs - 4 New Square
Jonathan Chew - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Jonathan has a good instinctive sense for responding to queries and issues which means he is well able to cut to the real points of focus very quickly. He is a sharp mind. ’
Patrick Halliday  - 11KBW
Emily McKechnie - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Technically brilliant, excellent with clients and judges! Easy to work with and a real team player. ’
Jennifer Seaman - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Jennifer is simply excellent. Very thorough, approachable and has excellent technical knowledge. ’
Thomas Seymour - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Very personable and calm and a fount of knowledge and experience. ’
Philip Stear - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Incisive intellect combined with a user friendly manner. ’

Rising Stars

Chloe Bell - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ Chloe is one to watch as an up-and-coming junior. Extremely clever, hardworking and is working at a level beyond her year of call. ’
Victoria Brown - Outer Temple Chambers ‘ She has excellent interpersonal skills. Super in a stressful situation. A real team player who is an asset to any team. ’
Joseph Steadman - Wilberforce Chambers ‘ Joe is quick on the uptake and has a good instinct in this area and I feel will become a well known figure in the area in due course. ’

Pensions in London Bar

Wilberforce Chambers

Rated as 'the elite of the pensions bar', Wilberforce Chambers' members continue to advise and act in the industry's most complex and cutting edge issues. Michael Tennet QC, Edward Sawyer, and Jonathan Chew act for Mitchells & Butlers trustees in a major rectification claim estimated to be worth over £100m, on the issue of indexing benefits to RPI inflation; Fenner Moeran QC acts for the representative beneficiary. Members are also instructed in Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund v Stena Line Ltd and others, considering whether a time bar applies to the right to unpaid pension benefits. The case, thought to have over £100m at stake includes Tennet QC and Moeran QC, and the addition of Paul Newman QC (for the trustee), Thomas Robinson, 'technically brilliant' Emily McKechnie (for the representative beneficiaries).

Testimonials

Set

‘Wilberforce remain the elite of the pensions Bar.’

‘First-rate set with leading practitioners in pensions, trusts, and property law. Huge range of counsel, many being the leaders in their field.’

‘Wilberforce is very strong in pensions – a lot of choice and coverage at different levels. No shortage of options from silks to juniors.’

Clerking

‘Really excellent. Patient and responsive. Fraser Geddes and Danny Smillie in particular have gone out of their way to assist as much as possible.’

‘Superb – efficient, effective and responsive.’

Outer Temple Chambers

Outer Temple Chambers  as a 'premier pensions set' combines strength and depth in its pensions practice and offers a complete service to its clients. The set is home to silks such as Andrew Short QC who recently acted in Guaranteed Minimum Pension equalisation test case Lloyds Banking Group Pension Trustees v Lloyds Bank Plc & Others. He also leads Naomi Ling and Lydia Seymour  in McCloud v Lord Chancellor & Ministry of Justice and Sargeant v LFEPA; both challenges to public sector pension schemes on allegations of protected characteristic discrimination concerning judges and firefighters respectively.  Nicolas Stallworthy QC led Nicholas Hill in Arup UK Ltd v Trustees of the Arup UK Pension Scheme which addressed the question of replacing RPI as an inflation measure within scheme indexation rules. Chambers also houses Andrew Spink QC , who acted in the contested Honda Motor Europe part 7 claim; and Keith Bryant QC, who acted for the representative beneficiary in the Britvic Plc claim concerning the construction of the schemes indexation provisions.

Testimonials

Set

‘Chambers have a very strong reputation in pensions, particularly where pensions law meets employment law. ‘

‘I regard Outer Temple as an extremely proficient set with an increasingly impressive pensions practice. We have used a number of barristers from OTC – and we have always been very impressed with them.’

‘Highly regarded set with a number of leading lights. One of the few sets with strength in depth in pensions disputes. Always on my list given the choice of counsel.’

Clerking

‘The clerks work hard to deliver good service.’

‘Nicholas Levett and Adam MacDonald are particularly responsive, prompt, and efficient. They are also friendly and pleasant to deal with.’

‘Excellent service – affable and professional. Prompt and user friendly.’

Radcliffe Chambers

Radcliffe Chambers' members  offer a wide variety of pensions expertise, both litigious and advisory. Praised for his 'methodical and pragmatic approach' to technical points of law, Keith Rowley QC acted for the banks in the legally significant Lloyds Banking Group case and currently acts for Mitchells & Butlers Plc in Mitchells & Butlers Pensions Ltd v Mitchells & Butlers Plc defending a £150m rectification claim. Chambers' 'super strong' practice also includes Elizabeth Ovey, who instructed for Bic in BIC (UK) Limited v. Hartridge, which concerns issues of contractual pension entitlement. Both Henry Day and Wendy Mathers have considerable experience in relation to both contentious and non-contentious matters.

Testimonials

Set

‘Wonderful chambers – they have a strong pensions disputes team.’

Clerking

‘The clerks are extremely helpful and amenable. Head clerk Keith Nagle has always provided excellent and super efficient service to us.’