Richard is a senior associate in the trust, estate and inheritance disputes team.
He advises on domestic and international disputes (or on how to minimise the risk of disputes) relating to trusts, wills, probate and inheritance, gifts for charities, shared ownership of property, informal promises of property, professional and non-professional fiduciary services (including individual and corporate trustees, executors, attorneys and deputies), the property and financial affairs of vulnerable adults and charitable status.Prior to joining Withers, Richard interned at the United Nations in Geneva, assisting with the periodic appraisal of member states by the Human Rights Council. He also worked as a Legal Advisor for a leading international commercial property developer, with particular responsibility for retail assets in England and Northern Ireland. Richard has also taught the law of trusts at King's College London, University College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies and continues to teach at UCL.
Me in a minute
I think deep down it is the sense of justice that motivates me in my work
I was always very creative as a child and had aspirations to be an author, recording artist, or the number 10 that the England football team still crave. However, my friends and family would willingly testify that my tenacity for playing Devil's Advocate in almost any debate probably means I'm well-suited to life as a dispute resolution lawyer.
I specialise in disputes about trusts and wills. I enjoy how technical it is practising in this field and am lucky to also have the privilege of teaching my specialism to undergraduates at University College London. I am able to draw upon my academic knowledge of trusts to my clients' advantage. I also have fond memories of graduate life at UCL, where a group of friends and I set up a student-led human rights group which appraised the then Government's record on human rights, receiving national press coverage in the process. I think deep down it is this sense of justice that motivates me in my work. I'm not sure my wife would always agree, but I'm told I also have a good sense of humour and tend to have a smile on my face.