News & Events
News & Events
The High Court has today allowed an appeal from the Pensions Ombudsman in the case of five police officers who were hit with a massive pensions tax when they accepted offers of civilian employment within a month of retirement before the age of 55. The officers lost their protected pension age and their lump sums and pensions were deemed unauthorised payments. The High Court found that the pensions administrators should have known that this would be the case but had nevertheless sent the officers misleading information suggesting that their lump sums would be tax free. The pensions authorities are now liable to compensate the police officers for their losses. This is an important case relating to the duty of pensions…
News 11 Jul, 2019
The Supreme Court today refused permission to the government to appeal in the cases of McCloud and Sergeant relating to age discrimination in the judges and firefighters’ sector pension schemes. The Court of Appeal held in December 2018 that the age protection given to those within 10 years of retirement when public sector pensions were changed from a final salary to a career average basis, was discriminatory on the grounds of age and that the government had acted irrationally in offering it. This decision will have a major impact on the provision of pensions in the public sector. Andrew Short QC’s specialist practice centres on pensions, employment, and general commercial work. He has acted in many of the leading cases…
News 27 Jun, 2019
Lydia Seymour will be speaking at the UCL Pensions Law: Policy & Practice Conference on 20th June 2019 in London. The conference is being jointly organised by The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Slaughter and May, and the UCL Faculty of Laws and Lydia’s talk will explore: the background to the 2015 public sector pensions changes; the Court of Appeal’s decisions in the judges’ and firefighters’ age discrimination challenges, and the policy issues which arise. Please click here for further information about the conference. Lydia’s practice includes all aspects of ‘black letter’ pensions law, including: de-risking, rectification, withdrawal arrangements in multi-employer schemes and trustee duties. Her clients include the Pensions Regulator, employers, trustees, trade unions and individuals. To instruct Lydia, please…
News 18 Jun, 2019
Under the statutory rules of the Police Pension Schemes, members have a right of appeal on certain matters to the Crown Court. In a judgment handed down on 13 June 2019 in the case of R (Carter) v Chelmsford Crown Court and others, the Divisional Court (Coulson LJ and Andrew Baker J) has held that this right does not apply to contingent rights, for example a right to widow’s benefit where the relevant member is still alive. Instead, the Divisional Court held, the claimants in this case should seek declaratory relief from the High Court (QBD) by way of Part 8 proceedings. The Crown Court’s jurisdiction in statutory pension appeals has always been something of a bone of contention; this…
News 13 Jun, 2019
We are delighted that Andrew Short QC has been shortlisted in The Lawyer Awards 2019 – ‘Barrister of the Year’ category. The Lawyer Awards are the leading awards initiative within the legal calendar and clear recognition of legal excellence. Andrew Short QC’s practice centres on pensions, employment, and general commercial work. Recent case highlights include ground-breaking decisions over discrimination in pay and pensions, in Abdulla v Birmingham City Council, Brierley v Asda, McCloud v Lord Chancellor, and Sargeant v LFEPA. His “practical” and “realistic” approach together with his “great understanding of the commercial issues in a case” make his strategic advice and his advocacy highly sought after by his clients, whether they are national or international companies or organisations, public bodies,…
News 7 May, 2019
We are delighted to announce the successful recruitment of four new barristers to our ranks. As of Monday, 8th April 2019 we extend a warm welcome to: Louis Weston Louis Weston, top-ranked sports law specialist and regulatory law barrister joins us from 3 Paper Buildings as a full Member of Chambers. Louis was the recipient of the 2017 International Advisory Experts Award: Sports Law Lawyer of the Year in England and has a thriving Sports Law practice. He prosecutes before the British Horseracing Authority, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, the Turf Club, the World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association and before other arbitral bodies. He acts before both courts and regulators in disputes arising from sports contracts and doping…
News 5 Apr, 2019
Today, Advocate General Tanchev handed down his Opinion at the Court of Justice of the European Union, Luxembourg, in Case C-171/18 Safeway Ltd v (1) Andrew Richard Newton and (2) Safeway Pension Trustees Ltd (a preliminary reference from the Court of Appeal). The case concerns the methods by which men and women’s pension ages can be equalised under a pension scheme. The scheme contained a power of amendment that permitted retrospective adverse amendments to rights. The material events occurred prior to the coming into force of section 67 of the Pensions Act 1995. The reference asks whether EU law permits equalisation to be achieved during the Barber window by retrospectively reducing the rights of the advantaged class where those rights were…
News 27 Mar, 2019
Keith Bryant QC and Saul Margo successfully represented the Trustees of Swansea University Pension and Assurance Scheme and another before the Supreme Court. Facts The case was about the interpretation of ‘treats…unfavourably’ under s.15(1) of the Equality Act 2010 (‘EA 2010’) which reads as follows: ‘A person (A) discriminates against a disabled person (B) if – (a) A treats B unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of B’s disability, and (b) A cannot show that the treatment is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’ (emphasis added). Mr Williams was ‘disabled’ within the meaning of s.6 EA 2010. He was employed by Swansea University from 12 June 2000 until he retired for ill-health reasons on 30 June 2013, aged 38.…
News 17 Dec, 2018
The Global Arbitration Review (GAR) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) held an event in London this month to mark the launch of the new GAR-CIArb Seat Index – which is now live and ready to access. The launch, held at Reed Smith in London on 15 November, featured a panel discussion by CIArb’s Doug Jones, Lord Goldsmith QC and Professor Janet Walker of Outer Temple Chambers, who led work on the project, following an introduction by GAR’s publisher David Samuels. The index aims to provide one-page summaries of the favourableness of individual arbitral seats assessed against a range of standard criteria. In its first version, it covers six frequently used and well-established jurisdictions for arbitration: Hong Kong, London, New York,…
News 28 Nov, 2018
David Russell QC Deputy Chair of STEP Worldwide, was invited to present The QUT (Queensland University of Technology) Faculty of Law 18th Annual W A Lee Equity Lecture last week in Queensland, Australia. The W A Lee Equity Lecture is held yearly in honour of foremost equity and trusts academic and author Honorary Professor W A ‘Tony’ Lee. Abstract As trusts are increasingly used as commercial and wealth management vehicles, they are becoming subject to regulation which is drafted without consideration of the specific needs of trusts and those connected with them. At the same time, there is an increasing disconnect between fiduciary principles and public behaviour in the political and corporate realms. During his lecture, David highlighted a number…
News 28 Nov, 2018
On 26 October 2018 Mr Justice Morgan handed down Judgment in Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Limited v Lloyds Bank PLC & Others. Andrew Short QC and Nicholas Hill acted for the Representative Beneficiaries, instructed by Ivan Walker of Walkers Solicitors. This landmark decision settles the longstanding question of whether Pension Scheme Trustees are required to adjust non-GMP benefits (“Excess”) in order that the total benefits received by male and female members with equivalent age, service and earnings histories are equal. In summary, the Judge held that: Pension Scheme Trustees are obliged to adjust the Excess payable under schemes in order that the total benefits received by male and female members with equivalent age, service and earnings histories are equal.…
News 26 Oct, 2018
Jennifer Seaman, Outer Temple barrister, co-hosts webinar today, focusing on Trusts, Pensions and Trusts Management. Speaking with Alan Kitcher, Head of Trusts and Probate at Charles Russell Speechlys, Jennifer covers the challenges of: trust management, trust accounts, duties of trustees, applications to court and trust compliance issues. The seminar is suitable for trustees, beneficiaries and trust professionals. It will also be of benefit to trust advisors needing additional legal support for the ongoing benefit of their clients. Click here to see a snapshot. Or, visit here to view Jenny and Alan’s thoughts on trusts and pensions, trust management including accounts, tax returns and compliance issues. Jennifer Seaman’s practice includes all areas of chancery and commercial litigation. She has a particular emphasis on…
Webinars & Recordings 28 Sep, 2018
