Murray Campbell*

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* Law Corporation

Murray’s practice is focused exclusively on pension and benefits law. He advises clients on the governance, restructuring, and modernization of pension and benefit plans and their supporting legal frameworks. With over 30 years’ experience, he has advised numerous clients with respect to the reorganization and modernization of their pension and benefit plans, as well as their governing documents.

Murray played a central role in the introduction of joint trusteeship to pension plans in the British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba public sectors, and currently acts for more than 20 boards of trustees (or similar governing bodies) of public sector pension and benefit plans.

Murray’s clients include boards of trustees and other sponsors of public and private sector pension and benefit plans across British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. While his practice is solicitor-based, he regularly provides strategic direction and technical support in pension and benefit litigation.

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Experience

Pension and Benefit Experience (Contentious Matters)

Involved in disputes over or involving:

Collection of exit levies from employers leaving non collectively bargained multi-employer pension plans and health and welfare trusts
Entitlement to pre-retirement death benefits
Recovery of benefit overpayments, including recovery on account of recovery from third party
Disability benefit denial
Systemic or ad hoc failure to enroll in pension or benefit plan, and collection of resulting arrears
Errors in pension estimates and similar communication, and allegations of detrimental reliance
Trustee deadlock resolution
Registration of pension plan amendments converting floating indexing to fixed indexing
Entitlement to post-retirement group benefits, and closure of such programs to new entrants
Integration of registered pensions plans with Canada Pension Plan
Enhanced early retirement entitlement

Pension and Benefits Experience (Non-Litigious Matters)

Helped with every conversion to date of a British Columbia DC pension plan to a Target Benefit plan
Assisted several boards of trustees and employers transition from single employer pension or benefit arrangements to multi-employer arrangements
Assisted several disability plan sponsors introduce “quarantine clauses” and other plan modifications in response to COVID-19
Assisted in several mergers of health and welfare trusts and employee life and health trusts
Acted as lead negotiator for employer in the collective bargaining of the reorganization of a significant British Columbia public sector pension plan
Helped introduce Saskatchewan's first target benefit pension plan
Chaired Union Management Task Force constituted to determine future pension arrangements for a large public sector employer – implemented unanimous report accepted by all parties
Conducted review of governance structure of staff pension plan of significant public sector employer, and implemented recommendations
Helped introduce joint trusteeship to several public sector pension plans in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba
Advises trustees and other plan sponsors on fiduciary liability
Drafts, and amends and restates plan texts and trust agreements for RPPs, health and welfare plans, and employee life and health trusts
Drafts and implements supplemental pension arrangements
Drafts and implements letters of credit trust arrangements to secure supplemental pension arrangements
Helped establish new defined benefit multi-employer pension plan
Prepares opinions on, and liaises with regulators and plan sponsors regarding, surplus ownership, contribution holidays and payment of administrative expenses

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