Slater and Gordon

Personal Injury: Abuse Law

Richard is a Principal Lawyer and Head of Abuse Law and Public Inquiries. He has many years’ experience dealing with serious injury and child abuse cases, acting for victims in high profile cases such as Jimmy Savile, the child sexual exploitation scandal in Rochdale, John Worboys and the football abuse cases. He has particular expertise in cases involving abuse in religious organisations such as the Catholic Church, the Church of England, mosques and gurdwaras. He acted for a large number of victims and survivors in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA), has taken cases to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and has achieved many landmark settlements.

Richard writes and lectures widely on abuse law and public inquiries and is a regular media commentator. Richard’s book ‘Betrayed: The English Catholic Church and the Sex Abuse Crisis’ was published in 2014. He also co-authored the APIL Guide to Child Abuse Compensation Claims, third edition published in 2020. He was a Chapter contributor to Justice for Children: A developmental approach published by Royal College of Psychiatrists/CUP in 2019. In addition to his legal work he holds a visiting research fellowship at the University of Kent, where he leads an international review of legal and policy responses to abuse in religious settings.

Richard wrote the book ‘Betrayed: The English Catholic Church and the Sex Abuse Crisis’ which was published in 2014. He also co-authored the APIL Guide to Child Abuse Compensation Claims published in 2011. Chapter contributor to Justice for Children: A developmental approach published by Royal College of Psychiatrists/CUP in 2019.

Richard qualified as a solicitor in 1994; joined Pannone Solicitors in 1992 (during which time he spent five years as head of serious injury; and moved to Slater and Gordon in 2014.

Richard is a founder and former executive committee member of ACAL (the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers) and a Fellow of APIL (the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers).