Sacker & Partners solicitors specialising in pensions law

Reflecting our reputation as leaders in pensions law, Sackers is one of just two firms with top-tier status for Pensions in Chambers' 2008 guide. We are also ranked top-tier for Pensions Dispute Resolution. The full extracts can be found below:

Chambers & Partners Guide to the UK Legal Profession 2008

Pensions

Now in its 40th year, the “superb” and distinctive practice of this 23-partner pensions boutique continues to draw praise from the marketplace. The firm maintains a seeming omnipresence in the pensions world as a result of “its high level of knowledge and a relentless finger on the pulse,” according to clients. Sources go on to identify its “technical, focused and trustee-friendly approach” as a guarantee of its place at the forefront of the industry. The firm’s work focuses on advising trustees, and it advises on more than 400 schemes each year. The team has also benefited from the M&A boom, advising companies through referrals from other firms with less developed pensions capabilities. Some commentators express concern about the firm’s lack of expertise outside of pensions, though others countered that the team “runs the full gamut of everything that trustees go through.” Recently these matters have included advising the trustees of the ITV pension scheme when it was subject to two hostile takeover bids, and acting for the trustees of the £1.2 billion Thames Water pension schemes on the regulatory implications surrounding the company’s sale to a Macquarie-led consortium.

Mark Greenlees is “happily recommended” by interviewees as a lawyer who is “always a pleasure to work with.” Regarded as an “excellent all-rounder,” Greenlees is adept at handling the interests of trustee clients including EMI, Thorn and Chevron. “Driven” senior partner Ian Pittaway is “good at summarising things, spotting the issues and acting commercially,” praise sources. He has extensive experience on the trustee side and has acted as a trustee numerous times himself. His impressive client base includes American Express, Nestlé and Standard Chartered Bank. Evoking great admiration for his transactional work, Chris Close is also adept at scheme mergers and demergers. Clients deem him “commercial and sensible.” Peter Docking is extolled for his “user-friendly” client manner and his extensive experience of cross-border work. Jonathan Seres has the respect of barristers for being “highly alert to the nuances of trust laws and the pressures trustees have to deal with,” while contemporary solicitors revere him as “a real technical whizz.” He worked with the trustees of the Marconi fund following Marconi’s sale of businesses to Ericsson and outsourcing of the administration of the £3 billion pension scheme to Paymaster. “First-class pensions legal brain” Fiona Franklin not only brings to the table a “good understanding of the way the commercial side works,” but she is also “charm personified,” according to clients. She has recently focused on funding issues, with major clients including National Grid, News International and Lloyds TSB.

Pensions Dispute Resolution

Now with two partners leading the practice, this firm is “very much on the top rung for disputes work,” acknowledge commentators. Trustee work remains a key strength, with clients noting that the firm has “seen most situations” and benefits from its “strong niche position.” The group acted successfully on behalf of the trustee of the Transport for London Pension Fund on a number of separate appeals to the High Court of decisions by the Pensions Ombudsman.

With a “steely grasp of the commercial necessities and a focus on getting a good outcome,” Katherine Dandy wins acclaim as an “astute judge of the strengths and weaknesses of the cases presented by her and the other side.” Her capabilities include working on professional negligence claims, rectification actions and overpayments, as well as advising on Pensions Regulator-related cases. Newly made partner Peter Murphy is “very business-minded, precise and impressive,” according to barristers. He is admired for getting “good purchases on tricky points,” and has been involved in professional negligence, members’ disputes, insurance and cutting-edge cases involving the Regulator. Arshad Khan has proven himself “extremely capable” on professional negligence cases and in the defence of trustees and employers before the Pensions Ombudsman.