Richard is the head of the European Litigation Group and acts for a range of financial institutions, fund managers and multinational corporates on high-value, complex and cross-border disputes. He has a particular focus on finance and securities law-related matters, as well as insolvency and restructuring situations.
Richard is particularly skilled at marshalling facts and developing legal strategy in high-stakes disputes. Clients describe him as “destined for the very top,” “an absolutely determined streetfighter” and “someone you’d want on your side if the chips are down.” He is frequently instructed to act as a strategic litigation adviser on the most business critical disputes, working in conjunction with company and/or local counsel.
Richard has conducted and resolved arbitral and litigation disputes in the United Kingdom and elsewhere around the world, and is a fully-qualified Solicitor-Advocate in England, as well as a CEDR-accredited mediator.
Richard’s recent representative experience includes:
- An ad hoc group of senior noteholders of Thames Water, the UK’s largest supplier of water and sewerage services, on challenges to the company’s proposed in-court restructuring and a wide range of other litigation issues both at first instance and on appeal. The group’s exposure to the company exceeded £12bn, and the matter can lay claim to being the highest profile restructuring in the UK for a generation
- An ad hoc group of noteholders of Adler, a German real estate company, on the first English Court of Appeal judgment regarding a restructuring plan and the parameters of the cross-class cram-down power. This landmark decision is highly significant in the UK and cross-border restructuring market, as it was the first time a UK in-court restructuring that had been sanctioned at first instance was set aside on appeal
- A global asset management firm on its landmark judicial review appeal against the London Metal Exchange in a high-stakes matter valued at nearly a half-billion dollars. This matter tested the boundaries at the intersection of commercial and public law, and is a judgment which is of significant interest to commodity traders and the wider trading community
- One of the world’s largest private equity firms on a range of litigation issues, including a multi hundred million dollar post-closing warranty dispute in the FIG sector, and a multi-hundred million dollar dispute with a foreign tax authority
- Fortenova Group, a large food and retail conglomerate, on an application to the English court to redeem secured debt by way of a payment into court. The application was a novel and creative solution to the client’s balance sheet issues created by the sanctioning of one of its key lenders. Having obtained the necessary licences and guidance from the UK, EU and U.S. sanctions authorities, the English court granted the order and payment was made into court
