Pensions, Chancery and Trusts

Barrister specialising in Pensions, Chancery & Trusts

Philip Stear’s practice involves the interaction of commercial trusts, insolvency and contract law, with a particular focus on disputes arising in relation to occupational pension schemes.

Philip joined Outer Temple Chambers on Call in November 2018, having been a solicitor in Travers Smith LLP’s highly ranked pensions practice for more than twenty years, thirteen of them as a partner. In his early career he was a Lecturer in Law at the University of Bristol (specialising in the law of contract and the law of trusts) from 1992 to 1995, and then part-time (with a special focus on pensions law) from 2000 until 2004.

Philip is an acknowledged expert in relation to technical pensions law and regulatory practice, and combines this with long practical experience of occupational pension schemes and the practical challenges they face in relation to governance and trusteeship, benefit design and modification, funding and security and member communications and disputes. Reflecting his earlier academic career, he also maintains a wide and deep knowledge of the broader legal landscape, particularly in relation to property law (whether concerning trusts, land law, unincorporated associations or charities) and contract law. Clients prize him as a solution-oriented lateral thinker able to find ways to unlock the knottiest problems.

He is regularly instructed to advise in relation to questions of pensions-related taxation, including in relation to SSASs and SIPPs.

As a result of his long experience at the coalface of occupational pension schemes (including acting for the trustees of some of the UK’s largest pension schemes), Philip brings to his pensions practice:

acute sensitivity to the practical challenges faced by pension scheme trustees and employers as a result of their different perspectives, and to the need to manage conflicts of interest arising from trustee roles pragmatically and to evaluate sensitively the pros and cons of court proceedings in relation to a matter; the ability to think “out of the box” and to originate and evaluate innovative approaches; and the willingness to work collaboratively and inclusively as part of a wider team, including not only trustee committees and employer representatives but also other legal advisers, actuaries and covenant advisers.

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