Expertise

Paul is a senior associate who specialises in advising trustee, employer and private clients on pensions and employee benefits.

Paul advises a wide range of pension scheme trustee boards and sponsoring employers on all aspects of UK defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes including auto-enrolment, buy-out projects, closure to accrual, equalisation, GMPs, member communications, pension sharing, scheme transfers, scheme wind-ups, TUPE and all other pensions matters. Paul drafts all forms of pension scheme documentation from amendment deeds and resolutions to appointment and removal deeds.

Paul has fostered his own roster of clients and is the go-to adviser for pensions clients.

Recent Experience

Advisory Work

• Advising the trustees of one of Europe’s largest radio company’s defined benefit pension scheme, including on a buy-out project, IDRP, data protection and the introduction of flexible retirement.
• Advising on several scheme consolidation and buy-out projects for a range of pension clients and non-profit organisations.
• Advising an employer in the construction industry on the establishment of a new pension scheme and management of scheme liabilities.
• Advising the UK’s largest mutual life, pensions and investment insurer on all legal pensions referrals from pension sharing on divorce, scheme transfers and trustee appointment issues.
• Advising the pension scheme trustees of a global maritime insurer on a consolidation exercise and scheme governance matters.
• Advising a multinational luxury hospitality employer on the closure to accrual of its defined benefit pension scheme.
• Advising a range of international companies on establishing and managing offshore employee incentive arrangements.

Contentious Work

• Advising on the Hampshire CJEU proceedings on the lawfulness of the PPF compensation cap and subsequent judicial review.
• Advising trustees, employers and private clients on individual pension scheme member complaints, Pensions Ombudsman and Financial Ombudsman disputes including in relation to the overpayment of benefits and taxation of pensions.

Transactional Work

• Advising on the pension aspects of multi-million pound corporate transactions and acquisitions and drafting due diligence reports, requests for information and pensions warranties and indemnities.

Career History

Paul qualified as a solicitor in 2017 and joined the team in 2019, having previously trained at a London firm. Paul studied law at the University of Warwick. Paul is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and has presented at the APL Beginner’s Course for up and coming pensions lawyers.

Publications

Paul is a regular contributor to the team’s Pension Compass publication and has written a number of articles for Pensions Age, Pensions Today, Law360 and a variety of other pensions industry journals.