Andrew Simmonds QC successful in Court of Appeal

Andrew Simmonds QC acted for the successful appellants in the Court of Appeal in IBM United Kingdom Holdings Ltd & Anor v Dalgleish & Ors [2017] EWCA Civ 1212 . Andrew has acted for them at all stages. Judgment can be read here.

The Court of Appeal reversed a High Court decision striking down major reforms made by IBM to its UK pension schemes on the grounds that the changes disappointed members’ “reasonable expectations”. In the course of a landmark judgment on the scope of the duties of good faith and of trust and confidence affecting the exercise of discretionary powers under pension trusts and employers’ remuneration policies, the Court held that the High Court was wrong to accord a special overriding status to such expectations. The Court also refused to order IBM to conduct another consultation exercise before implementing the reforms.