Several solicitors have enthusiastically taken part in 'The Art of Pensions Information' (as strange a phrase as you are likely to hear), which involved Pendragon Professional Information asking 1,000 industry figures to put down their thoughts on UK pensions on a postcard.

Most responses were pretty gloomy, some a little technical, and others simply straightforward - 'Simplification can be achieved only if we are prepared to scrap good but irrelevant laws as well as the positively bad ones,' wrote Andrew White of City firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw - and more than a few displayed gallows humour.

Robert West of Baker & McKenzie used a quote from work and pensions secretary Andrew Smith, 'People living longer is good news', under a headline 'Minister courts controversy on pensions'.

But top marks go to David Pollard of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, who, ignoring the final salary/defined benefit issue, just wrote: 'Pensions lawyers = Super lawyers.'