Rhiannon Barnsley

Solicitor / Professional Support Lawyer, Shoosmiths

As a Professional Support Lawyer for the Shoosmiths pensions team, I support our lawyers by keeping them up to date with key developments and the implications for clients in a quickly changing industry. I deliver training on key topics, formulate templates and precedents and write the quarterly legal updates that are circulated to clients. I regularly write content for our external website and I am committed to keeping our lawyers and clients up to date with the evolving pensions landscape.

Prior to becoming a Professional Support Lawyer in 2025, I was a client-facing lawyer with a particular focus on advising trustee boards and helping them comply with their duties.

I am a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and have previously been part of the Education and Seminars sub-committee and the Future Leaders in Pensions sub-committee.

Contributed to

1

Pension scheme mergers—considerations for employers and trustees

Practice Notes

This Practice Note covers the issues relevant to a merger of defined benefit occupational pension schemes, both for the employers, the trustees of the transferring scheme and the trustees of the recipient scheme. In particular, this note looks at issues relating to the compatibility of the benefit structures, member consent, consultation obligations and section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995.

Pensions