5 Stone Buildings

Barrister specialising mainly in pensions work, but also undertaking litigation in the professional negligence, trust, probate and financial services fields.  Pensions experience covers advice and litigation relating to all manner of problems and disputes arising between trustees, employers and members, complaints to the Pensions Ombudsman, the powers and duties of the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund and claims against pensions professionals.  In the professional negligence field he has particular experience of claims against solicitors, barristers, actuaries and accountants but has also acted in claims against insurance brokers, fund managers, stockbrokers and others.  He has also represented the Conservative Party in a major probate action (Re Kostic), defended Equitable Life in a class action launched by 400 policyholders and has acted in the first inheritance claim based on proprietary estoppel to reach the House of Lords (Thorner v Majors)  and the first pensions case to reach the Supreme Court (Bridge Trustees Ltd v Yates). Recent reported cases include: Foster Wheeler Ltd v Hanley [2009] PLR 229; Thorner v Majors [2009] 1 WLR 776; Independent Trustee Services Ltd v Hope [2009] PLR 379; Prudential Staff Pensions Ltd v Prudential Assurance [2011] PLR 239; Bridge Trustees Ltd v Yates [2011] PLR 313; IBM UK Pension Trust v IBM UK Holdings Ltd [2012] PLR 469; Premier Foods v RHM Pension Trust [2012] PLR 151; Trustees of the Lehman Bros Pension Scheme v Pensions Regulator [2013] 4 All ER 744; Honda Motor Europe Ltd v Powell [2014] PLR 255; Sarjeant v Rigid Group Ltd [2014] PLR 143; Secretary of State for Culture v BT Pension Scheme Trustees/BT [2014] PLR 647; Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund v Stena Line [2015] PLR 239; IBM UK Holdings Ltd v Dalgleish [2018] PLR 1; Buckinghamshire v Barnardo’s [2019] PLR 84; Lloyds Banking Group Pension Trustees v Lloyds Bank [2019] PLR 95.

Called 1980, Middle Temple; QC 1999. Sits as Deputy High Court Judge in the Chancery Division. Publications of note: ‘Trust Law International’ Vol 14 no4, 2000 (overpayments to pension scheme beneficiaries: remedies and defences); ‘Trust Law International’ vol 21, 2007 (the Pension Protection Fund 18 months on).

Association of Pension Lawyers (former member of the Legislative and Parliamentary sub-committee); Professional Negligence Bar Association; Chancery Bar Association; also served six years as a trustee of the Bar Council Pension Scheme.

Sevenoaks School, Kent; St John’s College, Cambridge (1979 BA; 1982 MA).