Pensions Associate

ROLE OVERVIEW //

Would you like to join an expanding and dynamic market leading pensions practice in one of the world’s most prestigious law firms?

We are offering a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual to join us as an Associate in our pensions practice. We offer a highly competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.

Slaughter and May is recognised for exceptional legal service, commerciality and commitment to clients. We advise on a spectrum of legal matters, often high-profile, ground-breaking and complex. We are known for delivering innovative and bespoke solutions.

Our Pensions Practice

Our Pensions practice is part of our integrated Pensions, Employment and Incentives group which is led by 5 Partners and has more than 30 non-partner fee earners and Knowledge Counsel and Knowledge Officer.

To give you a flavour of the breadth of work, the successful applicant would see all of the following:

• Very large advisory balanced practice (both business-as-usual and projects) for both trustees and sponsors of schemes of all sizes (from sub-£20 million to £10s of billions) as well as insurers - including Railways Pension Scheme, New Airways Pension Scheme (BA), BBC Pension Scheme, Electricity Supply Pension Scheme, BT Pension Scheme, Severn Trent, Royal Mail and Centrica. Associates work on: highly technical benefit issues (GMP/Virgin Media/equalisation issues on buy-outs/pensions tax), funding negotiations on valuations and transactions; surplus refunds and winding-ups; funding structures working with financing colleagues (SLPs; guarantees; letters of credit; reservoir trusts; escrows); investment advice including strategy implementation; TPR moral hazard powers advice, including related board advice; administration agreements; master trust transfers.

• Dispute resolution – member, IDRP and PO complaints for trustee clients, Part 8, professional negligence and rectification applications to Senior Courts and TPR investigations and proceedings. Recent current examples include questions of construction regarding scheme amendment powers following on from the BBC Pension Scheme cases and ongoing High Court litigation. We also advise on TPR s231 (funding) investigations and s43 (FSD) investigations. Pensions Associates work closely with colleagues in Disputes and Investigations.

• De-risking through buy-ins/outs – we have advised on many of the biggest transactions in UK market history, including the £7.5 billion buy-in of the British Steel Pension Scheme and on the £6.5 billion buy-in of RSA’s two schemes with Pensions Insurance Corporation. We also act regularly for insurers, such as Legal & General, Aviva and PIC; we advised Legal & General on the £4.6 billion buy-in with Ford’s pension schemes and the £4.8 billion full buy-in for the Boots Pension Scheme.

• M&A/IPOs/distress/corporate transactions - Associates work with corporate colleagues on deal structuring, due diligence, drafting and negotiation. This requires both technical expertise and commercial deal management. Examples include advising Vodafone on the pensions aspects of its agreement with CK Hutchison Group, owner of Three UK, to merge their respective UK telecommunications businesses to create the UK’s largest mobile operator, working with our Corporate team to advise Spectris on the pensions aspects of its competitive takeover by KKR and Reckitt Benckiser on the pensions aspects of the divestment of its Essential Home business.

We have an extensive database of precedent advice and standard form documents managed by our Knowledge Lawyer team and a dedicated team know-how specialist. We run regular technical and BD training programmes. Associates have access to a dedicated and experienced pension knowledge lawyer.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES //

The key responsibilities of this role are set out below and there may be others which are not listed. You may be required on occasion to work outside our normal working hours of 9:30am to 5:30pm.

• Day-to-day contact for advising sponsor and trustee clients
• Drafting, reviewing and amending the legal and commercial aspects of pensions-related and pension scheme documentation
• Taking responsibility for pensions aspects of transactions
• Delivering first line support to clients on matters, working within a larger team of colleagues, at a range of experience levels
• Managing/supervising trainees
• Taking responsibility for working with other parts of the firm in advising on all of these areas
• Developing the practice by promoting the firm, both to existing and potential clients and by contributing to the creation of know-how, including client bulletins and other client and firm-facing training events

CANDIDATE PROFILE //

Candidates for this position must have:

• A strong academic record and being at ease thinking fast and being able to reflect and identify the essence of a client’s query
• Keenness to learn and develop
• Ability to communicate succinctly, projecting confidence in both legal and commercial analysis underpinning the advice
• Ability to see issues from the client’s perspective and to work out how to deliver exactly what the client wants and needs
• Skill in drafting, advising and negotiating on complex transactions and matters
• First rate legal and technical skills combined with pragmatism, commercial knowledge and application
• Excellent client care skills
• Excellent transaction management skills
• Ability to develop and work in a fast-paced, intellectually challenging environment
• Resilience under pressure, endurance and ability to manage and meet multiple deadlines
• Experience in running negotiations and other meetings with limited supervision
• A high level of professionalism and integrity

International Opportunities

The vast majority of the work undertaken in the Pensions, Employment and Incentives group is international.

Many of our clients are based overseas and the nature of our domestic client base is such that most of them have considerable overseas interests.

Our Best Friends network ensures that we and our clients have access to the very best international legal advice which in turn enables us to see more than our fair share of the most interesting global disputes and investigations.

English law is often at the heart of a matter so we frequently find ourselves playing a key role project managing the international advisers and bringing all the strands of the matter together.

Culture of the Firm

Our culture is one of doing all that is necessary to deliver excellence to each client as a team. Team is central to how we function. We foster a collegiate and non-competitive culture in which colleagues ask for advice and support. We operate an open-door policy and actively encourage discussion and knowledge sharing. Our practice holds regular social and team building events. It is a team. There are no billable hours or billing targets for associates.

The firm has eleven diversity networks. Our aim is to foster a spirit of inclusion.

We welcome applications irrespective of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, belief or marital status.