Richard read law at Cambridge and first qualified as a barrister. Richard subsequently re-qualified as a solicitor and has been a specialist in IT Law for some 30 years.

In that time he has become one of the best known IT lawyers, having been ranked as a "Leader in His Field" in the Chambers Guide to the Law. He also served as a Trustee of the Society for Computers & Law for some seven years, for two of them as Chairman. After stepping down from that role, he was elected as a Fellow and continues to be active in the Society.

Richard has been a partner in City firms but now runs his own practice acting for clients both large and medium-sized. Richard is also active in the world of dispute resolution, being both a qualified mediator and arbitrator. He appears on the panel of mediators run by CEDR-Solve, perhaps the best known and most widely recognised body in the UK offering dispute resolution services, where he specialises in mediating IT and IP disputes. Richard is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and is on its panel of arbitrators for hearing IT/IP disputes. Richard is also on the panel of CISAS, a body which offers adjudication for resolving disputes in the telecoms sector. All told, Richard has given nearly 300 written decisions.