Birmingham lawyer heads award-winning pensions team
LAW firm Squire Sanders Hammonds has been recognised for its pensions work. The firm has won European Pensions Law Team of the Year at the European Pensions Awards 2011.
The awards recognise outstanding achievement in the field of European pension provision, honouring investment firms, consultancies and pension providers across Europe.
The winners were chosen by a panel of judges made up of pension funds, providers, consultants and representatives from various European pensions and investment associations.
Squire Sanders Hammonds beat strong competition from rivals including DLA Piper, Allen & Overy, Hogan Lovells and Wragge & Co. The award is the second won by the team this year.
In March, it was crowned Global Pensions Law Firm of the Year. The team had previously won this award in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
François Barker, the firm’s Global Practice Group Leader for Pensions, based in Birmingham, said: “Picking up our second award this year demonstrates the reputation that the pensions team has established as an international market leading practice.
“In addition, we now have greater strength in depth across Europe and the US as a result of the Hammonds and Squire Sanders combination at the beginning of the year, which was significant in securing this award.”
The pensions group is a key practice within the firm and is one of the largest, with 15 partners and 45 other specialist lawyers. The UK team is supplemented by colleagues in the European and US offices.
The firm’s pensions client base includes 16 companies listed in the FT Global 500, nine current FTSE 100 listed companies, 11 current FTSE 250 listed companies and 10 Sunday Times Top Track 100 companies, many of which are serviced through a number of offices.
The firm’s key clients include employers and trustees involved in pension plans sponsored by Veolia, ICI, Vodafone, Alliance Boots, Land Rover, Tesco, IMI, Compass, State Street, Halliburton, Babcock International, Peugeot, Kraft Foods, the Satake Corporation and the Professional Footballers’ Pension Scheme.
