“They are a leading pensions law firm – brilliant at understanding and dealing with the complexities of pension litigation.“
Legal 500
Our specialist litigation team is unique in its 100% focus on pensions-related litigation. We cover the full spectrum of disputes, from member complaints right through to appeal court and regulatory litigation. For many of our clients, we are embedded in their teams and provide ongoing risk management advice and services, as well as acting in relation to disputes and litigation. Living and breathing pensions litigation means that we have a depth and breadth of experience that can be relied upon, whatever the circumstances.
Our team has a wealth of experience in handling a wide array of litigation in the courts of England and Wales. We do not shy away from seeing a claim through to trial where the circumstances justify it. However, we measure successful litigation not by the number of legal claims brought before the Court, but by achieving the best solution possible for our clients.
Members, or groups of members, who are unhappy or who have raised formal complaints can present a significant challenge for schemes. We regularly deal with individual member disputes on a wide range of issues including transfers, cyber threats, data breaches, misstatement claims, auto-enrolment and DC investments.
Our team has been involved in the exercise of TPR’s powers since its inception, including its first financial support direction (Sea Containers) and one of its first scheme funding enforcement actions (EMI). We have continued to be involved in a variety of enforcement actions since then, including trustee suspension and prohibition orders, investigations into auto-enrolment breaches, employer contribution breaches, improvement and third-party notices, and anti-avoidance enforcement action. As the pensions regulatory landscape continues to evolve, so too do the risks and governance challenges. We have spoken and written widely on TPR’s powers under the PSA21 and are highly experienced in advising on strategies to minimise future risk, as well as managing regulatory investigations and responding to enforcement proceedings.
We have dealt with a number of negligence actions against professional advisers and administrators in relation to significant and costly errors. Our vast pensions experience enables us to act quickly and efficiently, using tried and tested tactics to move such claims towards a swift settlement.
Pension scheme trustees and administrators have important duties when handling personal data. As schemes are increasingly at risk of data breaches and cyber attacks, they are also subject to greater scrutiny from members, industry bodies and claims management companies. Added to that, data breaches frequently catch the attention of the mainstream media. Our team understands the practical issues that come into play when devising a strategy and action plan to respond to data breaches and cyber attacks.
To find out more about our pensions litigation expertise and how we can help you, please contact Peter Murphy.
