Frances Ennis
Frances is commercial litigation lawyer with significant experience, appearing in courts throughout Scotland.
A substantial part of her practice has involved advising clients including trustees, employers and employees in relation to all major aspect of pension scheme administration. She has acted in the following cases:-
Low & Bonar -v- Mercer [2010] CSOH 47
SSSPF -v- Pattison & Sim [2015] CSIH 96
Scottish Pension Fund Trustees -v- Marshall Ross & Munro [2018] CSIH 39
Cunningham -v- Pensions Ombudsman [2019] CSIH 48
Frances has extensive experience in contentious pensions issues from recovery of Fund overpayments and section 75 debts to interpretation and rectification of Scheme documentation, advice on pension liability in employer restructures and fund insurance.
She has represented clients on contentious pension issues on a wide variety of sectors including Government schemes, quarrier and aggregate and global manufacturing companies as well as investment trusts. She also acts in relation to personal pension disputes, including involving FURBS and SIIPS.
She has represented clients on a variety of matters in financial service actions including contractual and professional negligence disputes. Previous advice includes successfully acting for a client on appeal in relation to the transfer of pensions liability between partnerships.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2006
Membership
- Association of Pensions Lawyers
Qualifications
- MSC Criminal Justice (2006)
- Diploma in Legal Practice (2004)
- LLB with French (Hons) (2003)
Education
- Glasgow Graduate School of Law (2004–2006)
- Glasgow Graduate School of Law (2003–2004)
- University of Glasgow (LLB HONS) (1993–2003)
- Université de Liège (2001–2002)
1 Contributions by Frances Ennis
PRACTICE NOTES
Scottish Pensions Litigation: Prescription Timelines, Deed Requirements, Rectification and Constructive Interpretation, Amendment Formalities, Presumption of Regularity, Judicial Pragmatism and Group Proceedings
Prescription
The first step for any legal adviser contemplating raising an action is to identify the period within which any claim must be commenced. In Scotland, this is governed by the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, which addresses the ‘prescription of obligations’ (as distinct from the ‘limitation of actions’ in England and Wales).
General principles
Before settling on any timeframe within which a claim about an obligation should be brought, it is necessary to identify the nature of the obligation and, in consequence, the part of the 1973 Act that applies. In broad terms, disputes concerning the administration of pension schemes may fall within the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, s 6, although issues can extend from professional negligence claims against scheme administrators to liability for contingent debt. The obligations covered by section 6 are set out in Schedule 1 to the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 and, for present purposes, include ‘any obligation arising from, or by reason of any breach of contract’...
Pensions
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