Leeds-headquartered Walker Morris has made a major lateral hire with the appointment of Liz Graham as a partner to its pensions team.
The announcement is the latest in a number of senior appointments to the Walker Morris pensions team in recent years. The team, led by Jo Ratcliffe, now boasts three partners and two directors.
Graham joins Walker Morris from Squire Patton Boggs, where she was partner and head of the Leeds pensions team. Prior to this, she worked at Northwest firm Brabners.
Across a 25-year career, Graham has advised both employers and trustees on all types of pensions law, including scheme design, deficit funding issues, risk management, investment issues and scheme governance.
Recently, Graham guided a trustee client through the pensions law implications of an international takeover of the scheme’s sponsoring employer, advised on the pooling of local government pension scheme investments, and acted for the trustee of a complex multi-employer scheme in the charity sector.
Commenting on Graham’s appointment, Jo Ratcliffe, head of the pensions group and partner at Walker Morris, said: “Liz’s appointment reinforces the significant strength in depth in our ever-growing pensions team. Over the past 12 months this senior team has been involved in funding interventions on three separate and high-profile clients, and our outstanding client list is expanding each year.”
“By strengthening our expert team, especially with Liz’s vast experience advising on pension scheme matters and pensioner liabilities, ensures our ability to provide clients with the expert advice they require. This experience and capability of the team is a significant USP and is also reflected in the team’s engagement with its wider network within the local and national market.”
Graham added: “I’m thrilled to be joining the Walker Morris pensions team. The last two decades have resulted in huge changes for pension schemes, and pensions law has become a highly regulated and complex specialism. The pace of change looks set to continue and I’m looking forward to helping my clients navigate through the legal and technical complexities as smoothly and successfully as possible.”
