Richard Roberts

Richard is a leading junior in consumer and regulatory work with extensive litigation experience in the higher courts. He is instructed on complex advisory matters for national retailers, financial institutions, and public bodies.

Recent Highlights

• Supreme Court decision in Johnson & others. v FirstRand & others: Acted as junior counsel (led by Jonathan Kirk KC) for the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) in the landmark appeal Johnson (Respondent) & Ors. v FirstRand Bank Limited (London Branch) t/a MotoNovo Finance (Appellant) & ors UKSC/2024/0158.
• Other motor finance work: Acted for Arnold Clark Limited in R (Clydesdale Financial Services Ltd) v Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd [2024] EWHC 3237 (Admin). This judicial review was a seminal consideration of motor finance commission complaints and FOS jurisdiction.
• Retail & IP: Representing Wren Kitchens in ongoing High Court litigation (led by Jonathan Kirk KC) regarding trade mark infringement and misleading advertising claims advanced by B&Q.
• Other recent & notable cases:
  • Advising a major UK utility on the application of the application of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 to new products which it was developing.
  • Advising a financial services provider in relation to the powers of the Financial Conduct Authority under Part 4A of FSMA 2000.
  • Andrew Milne v Open Access Finance Ltd t/a Unbolted: acting for the claimant in High Court litigation involving the regulation of peer-to-peer lending.
  • Advising a leading European motor vehicle manufacturer in relation to a dispute with a third-party supplier over the safety of aftermarket products.
  • Advising a national law enforcement authority on the seizure of cryptocurrency.
  • Advising a national charity on the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and Money Laundering Regulation 2017 compliance.
  • Providing regulatory guidance on shared equity mortgages and utility product development.
  • Jones v Link Financial Ltd [2013] 1 All ER (Comm) 572; [2012] EWHC 2402 (QB) – Whether assignees are entitled to sue for debts as ‘creditors’ under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, s 189.

Expertise & Publications: Richard has extensive experience in financial regulation, consumer credit, and intellectual property (passing-off, trade marks, and design rights). He has written on the law relating to valuation and auctions, serving as the co-author of the ‘Auctioneers, Estate Agents and Valuers’ chapter in the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (LexisNexis). He also contributes to Consumer and Trading Standards Law and Practice (LexisNexis) and the Encyclopaedia of Financial Services Law (Sweet & Maxwell).

Richard has experience of a broad range of commercial and civil work, including contractual disputes, economic torts including unlawful means conspiracy, fraud, insolvency and bankruptcy. He has acted in mediations and arbitrations. He also has experience of group litigation, acting on behalf of the Claimants in proceedings in the High Court relating to trade union blacklisting. He has been instructed in various injunction applications in the High Court, including in cases relating to alleged copyright infringement, inducing breach of contract, and breach of covenants in contracts of employment.

Notable Cases

• Instructed on behalf of a Premier League footballer to act in a confidential FA arbitration
• Siddiqui v NHS Commissioning Board [2018] EWHC 1257 (QB): an application to strike out an action brought by a dentist against the NHS under the rule in Henderson v Henderson(1843) 3 Hare 100 and applying the rule in Aldi Stores Ltd v WSP Group PLC [2008] 1 WLR 748 as there was a pre-existing action brought by the NHS against the dentist, which is due to be tried in December 2018 in the Queen’s Bench Division. Led by Julian Gun Cuninghame against a silk and junior team from 30 Park Place, Cardiff;
• Business Energy Solutions Ltd & Anr. -v- Scrivener & Anr.: High Court claim in the tort of unlawful means conspiracy;
• Steven Acheson & others -v- Sir Robert McAlpine Limited & others: instructed as junior counsel on behalf of 150 claimants in a High Court claim related to trade union blacklisting, which involved aspects of employment and privacy law and alleged breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 (one of the top 20 cases of 2016 in The Lawyer magazine);
• National Crime Agency v Al-Massari[2015] HQ15X02988: acting for the Defendant in relation to freezing order and tax recovery proceedings

Richard undertakes professional disciplinary work and has regularly appeared on behalf of both employers and employees in Tribunal proceedings. He is particularly familiar with the education and social work sectors. He has experience of a wide range of employment law, including discrimination, whistleblowing, TUPE transfers and redundancy situations. He is regularly instructed by local authorities and by trade union clients.

Notable Cases

• Acting for a Church minister who is the subject of internal misconduct proceedings
• Instructed by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation in his claim for unfair dismissal from the organisation.
• Instructed by a trade union to advise on agency workers’ rights under the Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations 2003;
• V -v- Hertfordshire County Council and Another(2015) UKEAT/0427/14, [2015] All ER (D) 260 (Apr) – Decision by Langstaff J in the Employment Appeal Tribunal on the correct approach to Polkey reduction;
• Advising a county council on the pension entitlement of fire fighters in relation to a long-running industrial dispute;
• Defending a complex discrimination claim against a local authority brought by six claimants who had been working in local schools;
• Acting for the claimant in an unfair dismissal claim in the East London Employment Tribunal where the Tribunal imposed one of the first financial penalties under the new section 12A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996

Richard has experience of various aspects of travel law, including claims involving the Package Travel Regulations, flight delays and cancellations, and timeshares (in particular claims under ss.75 and 140A of the CCA 1974).

Virtual RLRU Seminar

June 24, 2025 | 9:15 am - 10:00 am

• One of the authors of the chapter on product liability in ‘Consumer and Trading Standards: Law and Practice‘ (‘the Pink Book’), Lexis Nexis (2025)
• Co-author of the chapter on Auctioneers, Estate Agents and Valuers in the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (LexisNexis).
• Contributor to Consumer and Trading Standards Law and Practice (LexisNexis) and the Encyclopaedia of Financial Services Law (Sweet & Maxwell)

• Called Lincoln’s Inn 2006
• Lord Denning Scholarship
• M.A., University of Oxford (1st class)
• M.Phil, University of Cambridge

Who I am

I am a barrister that provides legal services. You can contact me at richard.roberts@goughsq.co.uk , on 0207 353 0924 or at Gough Square Chambers, 6-7 Gough Square, London EC4A 3DE.

How I use your information

As part of my role as a barrister I collect and process the personal data of my clients, and of third parties connected with the cases on which I work. This can include sensitive personal information and information about criminal convictions.  I do this so that I can act for my clients.

In some circumstances I may also use contact details for marketing purposes, although you can always opt out of this.

As a barrister I also process information to enable me to practice as a barrister. This can include the personal details of my clerks, other legal professionals, people with whom I do business, support staff, and members of the public.

Whom I disclose your information to

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Your rights

You have the right of access to your information (a data subject access request), the right to correct inaccurate information, the right to erase information (to be forgotten), the right to object to or restrict my processing of your information and a right to information portability. Please see my Full Privacy Notice for information on how to exercise these rights.

You also have the right to withdraw any consent that you have given me to use your information (although if I have other grounds on which to use your information I may still do so).

More information

Please see my Full Privacy Notice for more information on how we use your information and your rights in respect of that use.