Richard Pettit > Burges Salmon LLP > Bristol, England > Lawyer Profile

Burges Salmon LLP
ONE GLASS WHARF
BRISTOL
BS2 0ZX
England

Living Wage

Work Department

Pensions.

Position

Richard advises companies and pension scheme trustees on issues including moral hazard investigations, corporate restructuring, Pension Protection Fund work, funding negotiations, scheme documentation, closures and mergers. Richard’s work has included advising scheme trustees on a high-profile moral hazard investigation by the Pensions Regulator involving a financial support direction being sought against a UK and overseas listed plc; advising a manufacturing company with a pension scheme with a £60 million deficit on the entry of the scheme into the Pension Protection Fund; and providing legal advice on the detailed mitigation for a pension scheme in the context of a £4bn restructuring of the supporting employer group.

Career

Richard trained and qualified at Burges Salmon (joining in 2004) and became a partner in 2015. He specialised in pensions on qualification and has worked solely in this area ever since. He is dual qualified (England and Wales, 2006; Northern Ireland, 2012).

Memberships

Association of Pension Lawyers.

Education

Attended King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon; Exeter College, Oxford, BA Jurisprudence; MA (2003); Oxford Institute of Legal Practice, LPC (2004).

Leisure

Interest in aviation (occasional private flying and taking my young family to aircraft museums).

Lawyer Rankings

South West > Employment > Pensions

The Bristol-based pensions team at Burges Salmon LLP regularly handles scheme mergers, complex regulatory work, buy-ins and buy-outs, as well as an increasing amount of public sector work; testament to this, the firm was recently re-appointed to the National Local Government Pension Scheme. Practice chair Richard Knight regularly handles high-profile matters such as providing urgent legal advice concerning the LDI crisis to the the trustees of high-profile pension schemes.  Clive Pugh‘s expertise extends to scheme rescue and managed PPF entry, while the ‘excellent, thoughtful and collaborative’ Michael Hayles is a key contact at the firm for public sector work. Richard Pettit, Alice Honeywill, Susannah Young and Chris Brown further extend the firm’s pensions expertise.

London > Employment > Pensions (non-contentious)

Burges Salmon LLP is able to offer its clients non-contentious pensions advice from its offices in London, Bristol, and Edinburgh, with Richard Knight leading the practice from Bristol. The team is particularly commended for its work on public sector matters, having recently worked on the National Local Government Pension Scheme Framework for Legal Service, on which Michael Hayles is a key contact. Clive Pugh is a name to note for scheme rescues and managed PPF entries, whilst the ‘pragmatic and sensible’ Richard Pettit is particularly adept at assisting clients with international pensions issues. Alice Honeywill and Susannah Young are also noteworthy team members, with Honeywill focusing on larger pensions projects within mergers, corporate restructurings, buy-ins and buy-outs. Associates Chris Brown and Crispin Freeman are also recommended.