We have one of the oldest practices in contentious pensions business. Our experience in this kind of work is profound and of long standing. We were on the winning side in the first reported surplus dispute, In re Courage Pension Schemes, decided in 1986. Since then we have been involved in many landmark cases including
- Maxwell (fraud)
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British Coal (surplus)
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H F Pension Trustees -v-Ellison (professional negligence)
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National Power/ National Grid (surplus)
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Barclays Bank-v-Holmes (scheme design).
National Power was the first surplus case to reach the House of Lords and was worth an estimated £2.2 billion to the electricity industry.
We attach great value to this area of our practice, recognising its importance to and relationship with our city and corporate work and our extensive financial litigation practice.
We know that pensions litigation requires top level expertise; the law in this area is highly complex, the sums involved are usually very large, often hundreds of millions of pounds, and the disputes can affect the lives of thousands of people in the most fundamental of ways. Case law in pensions is today a matter of public concern and debate. It is of great media interest and corresponding political sensitivity.