Richard Matthews KC

Richard is widely regarded as a foremost regulatory and corporate defence King’s Counsel in England and Wales. His expertise spans the breadth of regulatory and business crime, especially health and safety enforcement, fire safety (the Fire Safety Order) and environmental enforcement. His particular expertise encompasses gross negligence and corporate manslaughter, having advised government on the drafting of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Richard has considerable experience of representing corporations, directors and individuals facing a wide range of regulatory investigations and enforcement action, particularly health and safety, environmental and fire safety. In addition to prosecutions and trial representation, Richard’s experience of these fields extends to actions for judicial review (of both the HSE and Environment Agency) concerning the exercise of powers and issuances of notices.

He has regularly advised and represented many leading UK and international corporations and appeared for interested parties, particularly corporations, in a great number of jury inquests concerned with work-related deaths and Public Inquiries. He has advised in many of the UK’s most sensitive safety related issues over many years. Richard’s experience extends to prosecutions related to pesticides, trade in ‘parallel products’, copyright protection and the proceeds of crime.

Richard was educated at Girton College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1989. He was appointed King’s Counsel in 2010.

Health and Safety Enforcement: Law and Practice (Oxford University Press, 4th edition 2016)

Blackstone's Guide to Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (Oxford University Press, 2008)