Having originally studied Applied Psychology at Durham University, Richard has maintained his personal interest in psychology. Alongside his interest in legal technology and its role in optimising how legal advice is delivered and consumed, he is a firm believer that the law remains a people business. With that in mind, and drawing from his experience of corporate life both within and outside the legal sector, Richard believes that psychology is one of the most important — and least understood — factors in the legal market.

Richard now excels in legal operational and leadership roles, having led large Legal Function, Change, Data Governance, Facilities, and Risk & Governance teams in national law firms and in-house at Europe’s largest bank.

He thrives when managing people and teams, bringing a coaching-led, “come with me” leadership style to operationalise business strategy. He focuses on the development and implementation of commercial and innovation programmes, optimising efficiency and service quality through collaborative leadership, and embedding first-class processes and technology.

With a strong understanding of both in-house and private practice environments, Richard has sourced, evaluated, purchased, and implemented global software solutions for e-billing, knowledge sharing, CLM, CRM, and practice management. In each case, he has fostered a multi-stakeholder approach — negotiating risk appetites and control frameworks by ensuring communication and stakeholder centricity remain central to large-scale change initiatives.

Although focusing more on leadership in recent years, Richard remains a registered practising solicitor with a proven track record advising on a broad range of corporate and commercial deals. These include some of the largest global framework service agreements, consistently valued above $10m and often rising to over $100m USD across their lifecycle. His deal portfolio includes major agreements with the Big Four accounting firms, global SaaS vendors, and master service agreements with leading cloud service providers.

Richard also spent over a decade advising on international sports sponsorship deals across golf, rugby, badminton, and cycling, and provided legal counsel to Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Leeds United FC, and the Premier League on complex commercial, sports, and regulatory matters.

Combining over 20 years of legal and commercial experience, Richard confidently delivers strategic advisory services to senior stakeholders, including C-suite leaders, global function heads, and management teams. He is adept at preparing detailed, outcome-focused business cases and securing board-level approval for strategic initiatives. Richard is well known for cultivating strong relationships both internally and externally and is respected by vendors for his fair, outcome-oriented negotiation approach — always aiming for mutual benefit over zero-sum outcomes.