Durham Law School Professors in Practice at Association of Pensions Lawyers Conference and doubling of Prize Money for Durham Pensions Law Module

5 December 2025

Professors in Practice Philip Bennett and Mark Grant attended the Association of Pension Lawyers flagship annual conference in Leeds on 19th-21st November.

Mark delivered a speech to the 250 attendees entitled ‘7 habits of happy, effective pension lawyers’. This drew on what he had learnt through the various stages of his 33 years in the legal profession and his interests in coaching and neuroscience.

Mark shared tips and insights on:

- how to make clients happy

- self-care and avoiding burn-out

- curating a career-path that aligns with personal values, skills and interests

- patiently and intentionally mastering your craft

- the importance of mentoring and nurturing young legal talent

- building personal connections and networks, and

- supportive teamwork.

Simon Pilcher (Pensions Partner at CMS and formerly Partner responsible for CMS graduate recruitment) commented

“It was very timely to listen to Mark’s truly inspirational talk on the habits of a happy and effective lawyer, which was extremely well received by an audience of worldly-wise pension lawyers. I know Mark plans to share a version of this talk with Durham Law School students shortly and it’s a great way of helping them prepare for being a lawyer in practice.”

Building on the Association’s existing support for the Durham Pensions Law module, David Gallagher, the 2023-2025 APL Chair, in his opening speech at the conference announced a doubling of the APL’s prize money for the module from £500 to £1,000. David said:

“The mark of success of our sponsorship of the Durham Pensions Law module is that we are starting to see former APL prize winners joining the Association as practising qualified lawyers. It is very rewarding for us to see a new generation of pensions lawyers coming through and we can be confident that they and us have a bright future."

Professor Volker Roeben, Dean of the Law School said:

“On behalf of Durham Law School, I would like to thank the Association of Pension Lawyers for their support to date and their very generous additional support for Durham’s Pensions Law module- the only such undergraduate module in the UK. I very much welcome the strong links between the Law School and the Association through two of Durham’s Professors in Practice, Philip Bennett and Mark Grant”

Notes:

In June 2025, the Association presented a Certificate of Achievement to Durham Pensions Law alumna, Jess Peart, to recognise Jess as the first Durham Pensions Law module graduate to qualify as a pensions lawyer and to become a member of the APL.