Kirsty is a pragmatic and highly-skilled lawyer with significant experience in advising trustees and employers on all aspects of pensions law. Having joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a trainee, she has specialised exclusively in pensions law since qualifying in 2008 and is a full member of the Association of Pension Lawyers.
Kirsty is recognised as a Rising Star in the Legal 500 and ranked as an Associate to Watch in the Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession. Clients say "Kirsty is a delight to work with as well as being technically gifted." (Chambers, 2023)
Kirsty has knowledge and expertise across the full range of legal issues facing pension scheme trustees and employers. She is skilled at taking complex, technical concepts and distilling them into clear and actionable advice.
Kirsty has particular recent experience of advising on GMP equalisation issues, redrafting pension scheme documentation, and acting in relation to pension scheme mergers and consolidations. She also has considerable experience in employer debt and insolvency implications, resolving historic member benefit issues, and guiding schemes through the process of buying out benefits with an insurer.
Highlights include:
- Completing the merger of five defined benefit pension schemes into a single, segregated scheme.
- Advising on the pensions implications of an employer insolvency and implementing an innovative scheme rescue arrangement.
- Succesfully bringing a special case before the Court of Session to resolve historic benefit issues.
