Lesley Browning > Norton Rose Fulbright > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Norton Rose Fulbright‘s lawyers receive plaudits from clients for their ‘breadth and depth of experience, ability to draw on different competencies across the team, pragmatic approach, connections in the market‘. The group is able to assist employers, trustees, insurers, lenders and providers with the spectrum of pensions issues, with an active pensions-related transactions practice, an employer advisory workstream that involves funding negotiations, trustee engagement and information sharing, as well as liability management and de-risking. On the trustee side, the team advises on all legal aspects of the administration and management of schemes, with particular expertise in regulatory issues. Lesley Browning  heads the department, with a varied practice that includes day-to-day regulatory and governance issues, corporate transactions and matters relating to scheme mergers and custody agreements. Shane O’Reilly  is also well-regarded for regulatory and transactional issues, and has recent experience in GMP equalisations. In July 2021, the group was joined from the pensions regulator by counsel Graeme Tricker.

Norton Rose Fulbright fields a multi-disciplinary pensions disputes and investigations group, bringing together pensions lawyers with colleagues from the litigation, financial restructuring, insolvency and consulting departments. The team focuses on representing trustee and employer clients, in cases regarding the running of a scheme, documentation, and internal and ombudsman complaints. Patrick Bourke takes the lead, also coordinating the wider EMEA practice. Lesley Browning has recent experience in negotiations with trade unions and investigations initiated by the pensions regulator, while Katie Stephen is the name to note for financial services contentious regulatory matters, often acting in pensions-related matters.