Charmian Johnson

Partner

Practice areas

• HR Consultancy
• Industrials
• Pensions
• Pensions disputes

Practice notes

Charmian is a Partner in our Human Resources group, specialising in pensions.

Charmian has extensive experience of advising companies and trustees on a diverse range of pension issues.

She has been referred to in the legal directories for several years and has been most recently described in the Legal 500 as a Leading Individual and in Chambers as someone who is highly practical and who "provide[s] very high quality and succinct advice". She has also been described previously in Chambers as having “grit and personal gravitas”.

Recent experience includes advising trustees and employers in relation to:

• various de-risking/deficit reduction exercises (including pension increase exchange exercises, flexible retirement options and buy-ins and buy-outs)
• compromise deals with the Pension Protection Fund and the Pensions Regulator
• various restructuring arrangements including scheme mergers
• closing defined benefit schemes to future accrual via different methods, including changing employment contracts to override pension scheme rights, using the scheme’s amendment power to terminate benefit accrual and incentivising members to opt-out of the scheme
• managing employer debts, including scheme apportionment arrangements and flexible apportionment arrangements.