CMS advises trustees, employers, and insurers on the full range of pensions matters, from day-to-day advisory work to litigation, scheme closures, and liability management. The team is recognised for its expertise in pensions de-risking, advising on strategic buy-ins, buy-outs, and longevity swaps. Practice head Maria Rodia is experienced in acting for companies in the energy sector and handling issues arising from industry-wide schemes. Mark Atkinson provides ongoing advice to household names on structural issues that impact schemes, while Keith Webster leads on large defined benefit schemes and DC master trusts. With strong capabilities across both contentious and non-contentious issues, Mark Jenkins maintains a broad practice advising employers and trustees across the spectrum of pensions law. Johanna Clarke has a particular focus on the DC master trust space, and team member Hadassah Whitaker continues to contribute towards innovative matters in the pensions market.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- Alexandra Tomlinson - responsible Partner - is very well experienced, extremely knowledgeable, and an excellent business partner. She is always available to the Trustees and has our complete confidence. Katie Millard - Counsel - provides day-to-day services to the Trustees, which are of a very high standard, accurate, and easy to understand. Hannah Harrison - Associate - is a recent addition to the team. As a newly qualified lawyer, Hannah is already providing an excellent service.
- The CMS pensions team is great to work with and feels like an extension of our in-house team. They have excellent pensions expertise, alongside great industry knowledge and commercial awareness. They have a large team of lawyers and are able to draw on the expertise of other departments, meaning they can deal efficiently with large and complex projects.
- Mark Jenkins is an excellent adviser. He's always responsive and will go the extra mile to help get deals to completion. Mark is a superb negotiator, very commercial, and thinks of practical solutions to complex problems. Pete Coyne is great to work with. He uses his excellent pensions expertise alongside industry knowledge to provide practical and clear advice. Miranda Bond is passionate about pensions and helping her clients. She's responsive, her advice is clear and practical, and she's a joy to work with. Rosie Wallace is an excellent associate. She's efficient, responsive, and communicates her advice clearly and effectively. She's passionate about pensions and helping her clients.
- Johanna Clarke has led work across two major projects, demonstrating a clear commitment to understanding the client’s business and supporting its objectives. She is accessible and responsive, and engages proactively in problem-solving as issues arise. Keith Webster has led CMS's work on some complex and novel issues, demonstrating an ability to distill complex issues quickly and provide commercially focused advice that helps to progress matters and unblock issues. Neil Smith has led work on transactional elements, focusing on producing contractual materials that protect the client’s interests while being commercially focused in a new and developing area of the market. Matthew Preston and Thomas Bates have both played a significant role in delivering complex drafting and technical work. They have each demonstrated a strong ability to develop detailed documentation from first principles in a novel area, producing outputs that align with the client’s objectives.
- CMS’s non-contentious pensions practice has provided support on complex and relatively novel projects operating within a developing area of the market. Of particular note is the team’s ability to deliver across multiple significant projects simultaneously, maintaining a joined-up and consistent approach. A key strength is responsiveness, particularly where issues evolve and require iterative consideration. The team engages at pace and adapts its advice as both the regulatory and commercial position develops. From a client perspective, the advice is pragmatic and commercially focused. The team demonstrates a clear understanding of the broader objectives and works constructively to deliver workable outcomes, rather than purely technical analysis. Compared with other firms, CMS differentiates itself through its depth of resource and ability to maintain continuity and consistency across parallel projects. This has been valuable in ensuring alignment of approach and avoiding fragmented advice in a complex and evolving environment.
- As the chair of trustees, I very much value the counsel of Caroline Kurup, who is an essential part of our team. She is quick to respond, is fast on her feet, works very collaboratively with the rest of our advisers, and always gives clear guidance or recommendations. Caroline and Natalie Mee are the joint partners leading the legal advice to one of my schemes, and they are both great fun, coordinate well, and are always on top of their brief. Some legal topics can be pretty dry, but my Trustee Board always comments on how engaging Caroline and Natalie are as advisers, bringing an injection of energy and enthusiasm to every presentation or legal decision.
Key clients
- Rothesay Life Plc
- Baker Hughes (UK) Group
- Trustees of Biwater Retirement & Security Scheme
- Trustees of a new CDC pension scheme
- Clara Pensions
- Just Group
- GE Aerospace Pension Plan
- Trustee of the Motor Industry Pension Plan
- Trustees of the British Tourist Boards’ Staff Pension and Life Assurance Scheme
- Trustees of the Avon Cosmetics Pension Plan
- Board of the Pension Protection Fund
- Munro & Miller Fittings Ltd RBS
Work highlights
Advised Rothesay on its 3rd buy-in, insuring nearly £1bn of liabilities in relation to the National Grid UK Pension Scheme.
Advised the Trustee of the Biwater Scheme on managing a unique distressed employer covenant and getting the High Court’s blessing to wind-up the Scheme.
Advised Clara on the Church Mission Society’s transfer of £55m and over 700 members into the Clara Pension Trust.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Hadassah Whitaker
Practice head
Maria Rodia
Other key lawyers
Hadassah Whitaker; Mark Atkinson; Keith Webster; Johanna Clark; Mark Jenkins