Alison Hills > Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Alison Hills

Work Department

Pensions

Position

Alison Hills is the head of the pensions team at Penningtons Manches Cooper.

Alison has a broad range of pensions experience and provides her clients with well-reasoned, practical advice, having taken into account the relevant technical complexities and important reputational, commercial and personal factors. She is based in London but also works out of the Guildford and Basingstoke offices.

Advising on all aspects of pensions law, her clients range from individuals and small self-administered schemes to trustees and sponsoring employers of large defined benefit multi-employer schemes with assets in excess of £350 million. Alison is well versed in advising overseas clients who may be less familiar with their UK pension obligations.

Areas of particular specialism include advising on governance, pensions aspects of corporate restructurings/transactions including employer scheme-exits, section 75 debts, implementing flexible apportionment arrangements, member disputes, maladministration claims, implementing scheme benefit structure changes (including closure to accrual), liability management exercises such as pension increase exchange and enhanced transfer exercises, auto-enrolment compliance and salary sacrifice implementation.

She is an associate of the Pensions Management Institute and a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers’ Education and Seminars Committee.

Career

Before qualifying as a solicitor, Alison worked at Independent Trustee Services Limited (2005-2007) as a trust associate, giving her an excellent insight into the functions of trustees of pension schemes.

Trained at Wedlake Bell – 2007-2009.

Qualified in 2009.

Partner at Wedlake Bell – 2018.

Moved to Penningtons Manches Cooper to head-up its existing team in 2022.

Memberships

APMI (associate of the Pensions Management Institute)
APL Member (the Association of Pension Lawyers)
Committee Member of the Educations & Seminars Committee of the APL (Alison runs the beginners course twice a year for trainees of APL-member firms who are about to start a pensions seat)

Education

Southampton University – Law LLB, 1999-2002 – 2.1

Guildford College of Law – LPC, 2002-2003

APMI qualified.