When Richard is not focusing on being a father (striving for continuous improvement in ‘dad jokes’), padel and golf addict, or consuming great food and wine, Richard is a solicitor and senior legal operations leader who has spent the latter part of his career at the intersection of in-house legal, private practice and technology-enabled change. At HSBC he was Head of Commercial, Tech & Innovation for Global Legal, where he led and created initiatives such as the legal front door, CLM and award-winning e‑billing and data‑driven panel management across a 1,200‑lawyer function.
He then became COO at digital-first, national legal and insurance ALSP, rradar, before moving into consulting (through his consultancy, Cruse Consulting), where he won contracts working with CEOs and GCs on operating models, Salesforce‑enabled change and embedding AI and automation into improving how legal teams work.
A LegalTech in Leeds and BASIL Research Initiative Advisory Board member, he is particularly interested in behavioural science, the psychology behind practical change adoption and how this influences the future of legal service delivery. Richard is a keen advocate in improving mental health in the workplace.