Brodies sharpens focus on pensions with arrival of Alison Shackleton

LAW firm Brodies has beefed up its pensions provision after hiring widely-regarded specialist solicitor Alison Shackleton from rival practice Burness.

She will join Brodies tomorrow in a move that brings the number of employment and pensions specialists in the firm’s Glasgow office to 12.

Shackleton has been listed in both the Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 directories in recent years and was recognised in Chambers as being “effective at singling out issues which matter” and commended for her commercial approach to dealing with difficult situations.

She said: “I relish the prospect of working with such a dynamic and fast-growing team which has built a tremendous reputation among clients and in the Scottish legal market.”

Bill Drummond, managing partner of Brodies, added: “With pensions high on the agenda for many public and private sector organisations, our specialist lawyers are ideally placed to provide practical guidance on a wide range of issues from auto-enrolment to major funding projects for large defined benefit schemes, employer insolvency and pension protection fund entry.”

Earlier this month, Burness and Paull & Williamsons became the latest legal firms to join the merger fever sweeping through the sector.

The tie-up will see the formation of Burness Paull & Williamsons, creating one of the largest firms based solely north of the Border.

It will rank behind Brodies as the largest law firm in terms of turnover and partners based in Scotland.