Charlotte Docherty

About

Charlotte is a solicitor in our Pensions team based in Edinburgh. She is Scots Law qualified and has experience advising trustees and employers in both the public and private sectors upon a variety of pensions matters including defined benefit, defined contribution and hybrid schemes. Charlotte’s experience covers advising on a broad range of pensions legal issues, including buy-ins/outs, administration agreements, ESG and Cyber requirements and GMP equalisation.

Charlotte graduated from Edinburgh University in 2022 with a First Class Degree in Law. Charlotte trained at CMS UK, including a secondment to the Scottish Government advising on commercial matters. She joined the Burges Salmon team on qualification in August 2025.

She is a member of the Association of Pensions Lawyers.

Experience

• Day-to-day advice: Supporting colleagues in providing advice to trustee clients on a range of pensions issues, including the interpretation of scheme documentation, scheme governance and regulatory obligations.
• Buy-in and buy-out: Advising trustees on benefit specifications and contract terms for schemes of all sizes and with a variety of insurers.
• Pragmatic solutions: Assisting clients and working with other advisers, providing appropriate advice for schemes with issues around historical documentation.
• Public sector: Providing advice to public sector organisations on their public service pension schemes (funded and unfunded) and including advice on the Local Government Pension Scheme, the Civil Service Pension Scheme and industry wide arrangements.

Credentials

• Admitted as a Solicitor: Scotland (2025)
• Member of the Association of Pensions Lawyers