The Pensions Ombudsman's determination in CAS-503535-Y4X5 highlights the responsibilities of employers and trustees in managing pension schemes.
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Max Ballad
Legal Director
Max is a Legal Director in our pensions team.
He advises on all aspects of pensions law on behalf of trustees and employers of occupational pension schemes, including local authorities as well as SIPP and SSAS providers.
Having worked in pensions since 1989, Max specialises in advising trustees and employers on defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. He has particular experience in advising on small self-administered schemes, self-invested pension plans, Pension Ombudsman complaints and public sector pensions.
Max's work includes two cases that went to the Court of Appeal — Headway v Easterly [2009] (section 75 debt) and Britvic v Britvic Pensions [2021] (interpretation of pension increase rule).
A member of the LexisNexis Experts Panel for pensions law, Max has a valuable ability to distil complex matters down to what really matters and give clear advice to help resolve matters. He works closely with colleagues from across our full-service law firm as well as trusted external advisers to achieve clients’ objectives.
Max joined us in January 2025 from another national law firm. Prior to training as a lawyer, he worked for a company that administered one of the UK’s largest pension schemes and spent a few years working for an independent trustee company, winding up pension schemes of insolvent employers.