Richard Price

"Richard mediated an emotive inheritance dispute with skill and tact, swiftly identified where the parties could find common cause and guided them to a settlement effectively. The clients were impressed by his handling of the mediation and appreciated his warm and reassuring manner” Elis Gomer, Barrister, St Johns Buildings

“I have taken part in several mediation with Richard. His calm and courteous manner always helps put clients at their ease and feel thoroughly involved in the process. Richard quickly identifies the key issue and then gets the parties to focus on solving that issue after which the rest of the deal usually falls into place. He makes it look deceptively easy which simply masks the detailed preparation Richard brings to every case. I am always happy when Richard is my mediator because it is likely that my clients will end up with a deal they are happy with” Lawrence McDonald, Barrister, Exchange Chambers

"Thank you for all your kindness, understanding, and great work at my mediation. Stay safe, and keep up your good work” A participant in a mediation

“I thought you managed to mix both the professionalism expected of a lawyer in respect of knowledge of the law with a sensitive ‘human touch’ required to successfully navigate the moral and emotional issues entangled in the case and get us to a wholly acceptable conclusion...In short you have helped turn sadness and anxiety into happiness for a handful of people and you should be proud that your efforts have generated that result” A participant in a mediation

PROFILE

Richard joined Chambers in 2010. He is a CEDR accredited mediator specialising in Business and Property disputes and head of Chambers’ Mediation Group.

Before transferring to the Bar, Richard was a solicitor specialising in Chancery and commercial litigation. He started his Articles with Pannone & Partners in 1990, was admitted as a solicitor in 1992, and became a partner in 1996. He was head of Pannone’s property litigation team from 2002 until he left to move to the Bar in 2009.

Between 2009 and 2010 Richard worked in-house for the Trustee for Methodist Church Purposes dealing with all Methodist Church property in Great Britain and gaining experience of the charity sector. He remains involved with the Methodist Church as a member of its Law & Polity committee and as a Non-Executive Director of Methodist Chapel Aid Limited.

Richard was accredited as mediator by CEDR in 2008 and has an active practice as a mediator, having  conducted over 250 mediations. He became a Civil Mediation Council Registered Mediator in 2015. Richard now purely practices as a mediator. He is recognised as being calm, affable and able to put both parties at ease, helping them to reach (wherever possible) a fair conclusion to their dispute.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Richard is a mediation specialist. His mediation practice mirrors his previous practices as a solicitor and as a barrister specialising in ‘traditional Chancery’ (now ‘Business and Property’) work. Examples of recent mediations that Richard has conducted include:

WILLS, TRUSTS AND PROBATE

A dispute between two wives of the deceased over who was entitled to a grant of probate on his intestacy, and as to what provision each was entitled to receive from the deceased’s estate

A dispute over the administration of the parties’ father’s and mother’s estates, which had been conducted to date by two of the three sons of the deceased, which progressed agreeing the appointment of an independent administrator in place of the parties themselves

A dispute between the sons of the deceased’s first marriage and the deceased’s second wife where the deceased died intestate leaving an estate valued at £3m, and where issues arose as to whether the deceased had retained a benefit in land which had been transferred in his lifetime to his first wife and then to his sons

A claim by the former wife of the deceased against her late husband’s estate for provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 where the beneficiaries of the estate were the adult children of the deceased and where both children mounted their own needs-based defences to the claim

A challenge to the validity of the deceased’s Will by a child of the deceased on the ground that the deceased lacked capacity to make the Will, and/or that the Will had been procured by the actions of the main beneficiary of the Will (the brother of the claimant)

REAL PROPERTY

A claim between a developer and a neighbouring landowner (a charity) concerning the release or modification of restrictive covenants binding the developer's land

A dispute between neighbouring landowners concerning rights of way and drainage to a sceptic tank enjoyed by one landowner over the property of the other, and ancillary issues concerning nuisance and alleged breaches of the Party Wall etc Act

A dispute between neighbours of properties fronting onto Lake Windermere concerning the line of the boundary between the properties, and its potential impact on the access to each property

A claim under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act following the breakdown of a relationship by one of the co-owners of a property for an order for sale of the property, and for his share of the proceeds of sale adjusted to reflect monies which he claimed he had paid to fund the purchase of the property

LANDLORD AND TENANT

A claim for dilapidations and other matters brought by the landlord of a cinema against the former tenant on the expiry of the tenant’s lease

A contested renewal of a business tenancy protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 Part II

An opposed renewal of a tenancy of racing stables where the landlord sought to rely on ground (e) of the 1954 Act in the absence of an effective forfeiture provision in the lease

A dispute between the landlord and tenant of farmland, including issues as to whether the tenant occupied under an Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy or a Farm Business Tenancy

PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE

A claim for diminution in value brought by the owners of a property which was subject to a right of way against the solicitors who had acted for them on the purchase of the property

A claim by an employee against both his employer (for damages for personal injury) and the solicitors who had advised him on the terms of a compromise agreement on the termination of his employment

COMMERCIAL

A claim by a utility broker against a customer of payment of arrears

A dispute between building contractors for sums alleged to be due from one to the other following the termination of a partnership arrangement

A partnership dispute between doctors

A dispute between a contractor and a landlord for sums alleged to be due for works carried out to the landlord’s property

NOTABLE CASES

AIB Group (UK) plc v Turner [2015] EWHC 3994 (Ch)

PUBLICATIONS

Richard is a contributor to Jordans Civil Court Service and to the Green Book.