Lovells has strengthened its international pensions practice with the election of Duncan Buchanan as a partner based in the firm's London office. Duncan, currently a partner at McGrigors in London, joins the firm on 15 June 2006 with a team of two.
Duncan Buchanan (40) is a pensions lawyer who advises employers and trustees on the operation of occupational pension schemes as well as the pensions aspects of the sale and purchase of businesses. Recently he has been involved with a number of applications for clearance from The Pensions Regulator. He has been a partner at McGrigors since June 2002, having previously been a partner at Andersen Legal. Duncan is a member of the Association of Pensions Lawyers (APL) and an associate member of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).
Duncan joins with his assistants Judith Crate, a senior lawyer who has specialised in pensions since 1995, and Justin McGilloway, who qualified as a solicitor in 2003.
Lovells' international pensions practice currently comprises six partners. There are 14 other lawyers in London, with additional capability in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Madrid, Munich, Paris and Rome. The practice covers the complete spectrum of pensions advice, including pension scheme reorganisations, closure and benefit restructurings, non-approved arrangements and general drafting and advisory work. In addition the team offers transactional expertise working alongside the firm's corporate, employment, financial services and compliance, insurance and tax practices. A separate pension litigation practice deals with all aspects of contentious pensions business.
Duncan joins the firm at a time when the UK pensions market has seen an increase in corporate activity, with pensions issues often seen by clients as critical to the success of any deal. The volume of pensions work has also increased significantly with the new regulatory and tax systems in the UK.
Commenting on Duncan's arrival, Russell Strachan, head of the international pensions practice, said:
"Duncan has a clear commitment to client service and an impressive client development track record, having built well regarded practices from scratch at both Andersen Legal and McGrigors. He is well known in the marketplace as an outstanding pensions lawyer and his experience will be invaluable to our clients. The practice currently has an impressive portfolio of clients and bringing in younger partners such as Duncan will help to ensure the long term future of the practice and our ability to continue to advise those clients. "
Duncan Buchanan said:
"Lovells is one on the world's largest, truly international law firms and has a fantastic profile for pensions work. I am excited about joining the team at Lovells and to competing in the marketplace with the strength and depth of its pensions practice behind me. Pensions is a fast changing area of the law and clients now need the range of legal expertise in areas such as banking, insurance and corporate restructuring that only firms like Lovells can offer. I expect a number of clients will follow us to Lovells."
Duncan Buchanan completed a degree in law at Cardiff University in 1987 and completed his Law Society finals in 1988. He qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and joined Fox Williams. He moved to Rowe & Maw in 1992 before moving to Andersen Legal in 1997. He became a partner at Andersen Legal in September 1998. When Andersen Legal was dissolved in 2002 he joined KLegal (now McGrigors).
Duncan has delivered lectures to, and has organised a number of seminars for, the APL. He presented a paper at an APL annual conference and has written articles for a number of pensions publications including Global Pensions and British Pensions Lawyer. Duncan gives presentations and trustee training to clients.
Duncan's advice to employers and trustees includes: · establishing and operating pension schemes
· closing and winding up pension schemes
· regulatory issues, including dealing with The Pensions Regulator
· the pension aspects of corporate transactions
· international pensions arrangements, particularly in the financial services sector
· employee benefit arrangements, including employee benefit trusts, share schemes, long term incentive plans and tax effective remuneration.
Recent experience of Lovells' international pensions practice: · Advising Doughty Hanson on the pensions clearance aspects arising out of the IPO of RHM plc
· Advising Honeywell International on the wide-ranging consequences of the new law applying to the under funded schemes of a recently acquired small UK plc
· Outsourcing the pension reserves of Boston Consulting Group in Germany by establishing a Contractual Trust Arrangement (CTA)
· Appointment by Prudential to draft Finance Act 2004 changes for 66 schemes
· Advising Centrica on the introduction of a new career-average arrangement
· Advising Barclays Bank on a major rationalisation of its pension arrangements.