Matthew Swynnerton

Matthew is a partner at DLA Piper where he heads the London Pensions team. He advises on all aspects of pensions law and is currently recognised as a Leading Individual in the Legal 500 and ranked in Chambers. Matthew has been described by a leading pensions KC as having "an extensive knowledge of pensions law and practice, very sound legal judgement and good commercial sense” and by clients as being "able to demonstrate a deep knowledge of pensions law which he deploys with great pragmatism".

In 2024, Matthew was elected by his peers as the Association of Pension Lawyers (APL) Chair Elect and will become the APL's Chair in November 2025.

Matthew is also a legal adviser to the Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG), and a member of its Technical Committee. He works on a pro-bono basis for PSIG, the voluntary body set up to combat pension scams, help protect members and assist trustees and administrators in this complex and high-profile area. His work has involved helping draft key legal sections of the industry-wide Combatting Pension Scams Code of Practice and Practitioner’s Guide, which received widespread praise from the Pensions Regulator, the Pensions Ombudsman and the Pensions Minister, and working directly with DWP policy-makers on legislation in this cutting-edge area.

Recent notable client work has included advising Uber on its automatic enrolment duties following the Supreme Court judgment on worker status, as a result of which he has developed unrivalled expertise in relation to advising gig economy sector entities on their pensions duties and negotiations with the Pensions Regulator. Matthew is "praised by clients as 'highly responsible and approachable' and clients have said: “his knowledge of pensions law is outstanding and his understanding of the implications of existing, new or upcoming pensions regulation on the wider industry is exceptional.”

Matthew is a regular conference speaker, and has recently spoken at the APL’s Annual Conference, the IPEBLA conference in Milan and the London Pensions Age conference.