Consistent with our mission to be the leading law firm pricing consultancy in the world, we are expanding our pricing related offerings to law firms to include additional pricing-related services. We are doing that with people who are regarded as 'best in class'.

  • Richard Burcher is widely regarded as the leading international legal services pricing consultant.

    He is a former New Zealand practicing lawyer and managing partner with over 40 years experience. Following post-­graduate study in pricing-­related disciplines, Richard has been based in London since 2012 as the founder and Managing Director of Validatum (UK) Limited (www.validatum.com).

    His pricing consultancy services and speaking engagements take him throughout the UK, Asia, India, Europe, Australasia and North America. Validatum® has worked with over 300 law firms from boutiques to global firms in 23 countries as diverse as the US, the UK, Romania, Sweden, Italy, Bermuda and New Zealand.

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    E: [email protected]

    M: 0044 (0)7585 637 617

  • Steph is a seasoned procurement professional with over 15 years’ experience gained in the Financial Services sector as head of legal procurement for a FTSE 100 insurance company, and is one of only a handful of legal procurement specialists in the UK regularly working with the largest and most sophisticated of law firms.

    Bringing thought leadership to the sector, she has unrivalled practical experience in running legal panel processes and developing and maintaining successful, collaborative relationships, underpinned by world class MI and reporting that truly meets client needs. Respected by legal firms for being honest and straight talking, Steph is passionate about helping firms and their clients work together to define and deliver excellent value for money, and is very clear on the difference between value and price!

    A regular conference speaker and author on legal procurement, Steph’s unique insights also draw upon first-hand experience gained in commodities as diverse as IT and consultancy, and make her uniquely placed to help firms navigate the professional, institutionalised approach to buying now endemic within the legal profession.

    Steph works exclusively with law firms to help them optimise external legal procurement relationships.

    E: [email protected]
    M: 0044 (0)7772 761 154

  • Richard Allen brings more than 30 years of unique commercial experience to Validatum. He was one of the first professionals to achieve Costs Lawyer status and is one of a select group of Costs Lawyers to have made partner in a solicitor’s practice.

    He is also a founding and longest-serving non-executive director of the Costs Lawyer Standards Board.

    Since starting out in 1983, Richard has worked his way through both fee earning and costs, dealing with conditional fee agreements, commercial debt recovery, bankruptcy, and insolvency, before specialising in personal injury litigation and developing costs expertise.

    His exceptional work has seen him handling significant litigation and costs caseloads for major City of London, West End and national law firms during the course of which Richard acquired particular experience and expertise on conditional fee agreements and damages-based agreements.

    During his career, Richard’s expertise has seen him instrumental in establishing and running litigation and costs departments and managing costs teams across multiple office locations, as well as having a central role managing a regional law firm as a partner.

    He joined Validatum from top 100 firm Minster Law, where he formed and headed their national Costs Department.

    Richard plays a pivotal role in amongst other things, delivering Costs and Pricing Masterclasses, as well as developing bespoke training programmes for clients.

  • Tanbir is our pricing analytics consultant, and brings deep knowledge of both pricing strategy and the underpinning analytics technology. Tanbir has a passion for using analytics for improving business performance, and brings considerable expertise in this area, gained through 18 years’ experience in both management consultancy and industry.

    Tanbir has previously held senior positions with McKinsey, KPMG, Capgemini and Clifford Chance. A qualified accountant and an alumni of Henley Business School, he has a track record of successfully delivering business transformation projects at major global and public sector organisations.

    His specialism is aligning business strategy with performance, through the implementation of enterprise performance management and business intelligence solutions. A core component of these solutions is the ability to understand the drivers of profitability to support pricing decisions, and the associated management information to understand the effectiveness of these decisions.

    E: [email protected]
    M: 0044 (0)7796 268 769

Latest Articles and Events

Are Clients Willing to Pay More When Defending a Claim? Understanding Loss Aversion and Its Impact on Legal Fees

When it comes to litigation, law firm clients usually face two distinct scenarios: defending a claim or pursuing one on behalf of their client. While both situations require legal support, clients might approach each with a different mindset—particularly when it comes to the fees, they're willing to pay.

An interesting psychological concept known as loss aversion helps shed light on this phenomenon and offers valuable insights into how clients might view legal fees differently depending on whether they’re protecting against a loss or trying to achieve a gain.

October 08, 2024

The Myth of the "Single Price" in Legal Services: A Closer Look at Market Dynamics and Profitability

Lawyers often justify accepting lower fees for their services with the argument that "there is a price in the market for a job like that." This rationale suggests that deviating even slightly from their perception of the market price will result in losing the work altogether.

However, the notion that there is a single, immutable price for a particular type of legal matter is more myth than reality. In truth, the market for legal services, like any other market, is characterised by a range of acceptable prices rather than a single fixed figure.

September 30, 2024

The Hidden Costs of a Lax Law Firm Culture

Law firm culture is usually discussed in positive terms of competitive advantage, collegiality, empathy, mutual trust and support. I could retire comfortably if I had a £ for every time I have been told that, “this is a nice place to work, everyone gets on, that is the most important thing, we don’t tamper with the firm’s culture”.

September 23, 2024

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https://www.virtualpricingdirector.com/

The coming together of these 3 power-house firms has enabled us to create something truly revolutionary. I have no doubt that Virtual Pricing Director® is going to drastically alter, for the good, the way lawyers price-up work” Richard Burcher, Managing Director, Validatum®, Chairman, Virtual Pricing Director® & Legal Pricing Academy®

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http://www.legalpricingacademy.com/

Whether you are just starting out on your pricing career or are already highly experienced, whether you want to undertake some ‘light-touch’ professional development or aspire to the pinnacle of Certified Legal Pricing Professional, the Legal Pricing Academy® can help you achieve your goals” Richard Burcher, Managing Director, Validatum®, Chairman, Virtual Pricing Director® & Legal Pricing Academy®

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