Peter Shave

I lead a specialist group of lawyers within the Wragge & Co Pensions team that advises on pensions-related disputes.

Tel: +44 (0)121 260 9828

Email: peter_shave@wragge.com

Best brains in ...

Advice on minimising risk, member complaints through the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure and before the Pensions Ombudsman, and High Court actions including court-approved compromises, rectification and professional negligence claims.

Highlight of your career so far?

Currently, this would be the Court of Appeal decision in the Steria booklets case. The case had very significant ramifications not only for my clients but for pension scheme trustees and sponsoring employers generally. We had advised that the member's claim was ill founded and we were vindicated in the Court of Appeal decision. The case demonstrated the importance of getting the analysis right from the start and having the courage to stick to your guns.

Most challenging job you've ever done?

For trustees of a multi-billion pound pension scheme sponsored by a FTSE 100 company marshalling limited evidence and countering strong arguments to achieve the desired result. It was like playing poker with a poor hand but we did it! - and our success discouraged similar claims that might have materialised from other members.

What about outside the UK?

For a major international airline with employees based in another EU country who were accruing benefits in their UK pension scheme, I had to take urgent action to avoid a significant additional funding liability that would arise as a result of an EC Directive. The case involved getting to grips with the rapidly changing UK legislation, tight deadlines and overseas injunctions. Strong teamwork with the overseas lawyers saw us win through and achieve the desired result.

What's your definition of going the extra mile ……. And when have you done it?

Getting to clients early with information of developments that could affect their business. Changes coming through in the Local Government Pension Scheme have the potential to have a significant effect on our public sector and outsourcing clients, aligning them more in some respects with the private sector regime. Based on my experience in advising private sector clients, I identified potential issues, briefing local authority and contractor clients enabling them to negotiate appropriate risk sharing arrangements.

Best example of a creative legal solution?

Steering pension scheme trustees and their sponsoring employers away from a scheme funding dispute which threatened to result in court proceedings to a unique bespoke agreement. The agreement gave the sponsoring employer a fixed payment programme for the long term and confidence to the trustees that the funding position of the scheme would be improved as they required. In return, the trustees agreed to suspend their power to demand higher payment which had been the source of the increasing friction between the parties.

When have you ever given a client a real competitive edge?

There are clear advantages (time, cost) in preventing disputes from arising if at all possible. We have worked proactively with clients to identify the sorts of things that are giving rise to complaints and then to identify steps that can be taken to address those issues and reduce the chance of claims arising in the first place. Following this work on ill health early retirement cases, one of our clients saw its incidence of complaints fall by 75% with none of the remaining Pension Ombudsman complaints being upheld.

What's your single greatest contribution to Wragge & Co's corporate responsibility?

Wragge & Co has been a long-term supporter of The Pensions Advisory Service. TPAS is a voluntary organisation that provides free help and information to members of the public about pensions issues. I have been a TPAS adviser for five years during which time I have been pleased to have been able to resolve many issues for members of the public for whom pensions is a very difficult and confusing subject.

What's been written or said about you that you're most proud of?

I have been described as knowledgeable, articulate and easy to understand - essential attributes for effective dispute resolution, which is all about thoroughly understanding the issues and then communicating clearly the client's position in terms that give them the best prospect of achieving their desired result.