Richard is a senior litigator in the Dispute Resolution team in our London office
Richard specialises in company law litigation and director and officer and other corporate governance-related disputes. He regularly advises in distressed and insolvency scenarios, including in relation to associated claims and regulatory investigations. He has recently contributed to a leading academic text in this field, published in early 2024.
His practice also focusses on professional negligence actions, particularly in relation to company audit and accounting matters.
Background
Richard joined Herbert Smith Freehills in 2010 after completing his legal professional qualifications. He has been admitted to practice in England and Wales since September 2012 and obtained his Higher Rights of Audience in 2014 to become a Solicitor-Advocate. He has done a secondment to the firm's Singapore and Tokyo offices as well as a client secondment to Morgan Stanley in Japan.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
Company law, directors, officers and corporate governance
- certain of the former non-executive directors of Carillion plc in relation to all aspects of the insolvency of the Carillion Group, including advising in relation to appearances before Parliamentary Select Committees and successfully defending them in disqualification proceedings brought by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade
- RBS and its former directors in their defence to a high-profile class action concerning the bank's 2008 rights issue
- a high-profile individual in a shareholder dispute involving allegations of director duty breaches
- an international airline on potential director exposures associated with proposed corporate transactions
- a listed professional services firm in its defence to a dispute with a former executive
- the Board of Ferrexpo plc on matters relating to its mining operations in Ukraine
Professional Negligence
- an accountancy and professional services firm in respect of its defence to professional negligence claims concerning the provision of tax advisory and liquidation services
- a FinTech company executive on a potential professional negligence claim against their former solicitors
- an accountancy and professional services firm in relation to a threatened claim concerning the provision of audit services
Contentious Insolvency
- Nortel Networks UK (in administration) and 18 other European Nortel companies in relation to the global insolvency of the Nortel group, which involved bringing substantial intra-group claims in multiple jurisdictions
- a US-based property investment firm on insolvency proceedings and related fraud claims resulting from the collapse of a debtor in the private client real estate sector
- a lender in relation to claims arising out of the collapse of the Signa group, the largest insolvency in Austria's history
Sectors
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