Richard De Friend is the Director of the College of Law in London. Richard read Law at  the University of Kent and has LLMs from London (LSE) and Yale. He was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1992.

Richard was a law lecturer at the University of Kent from 1973 and the Head of the Law School of the University from 1985 to 1990. Between 1993 and 1998 he was the Pro Vice Chancellor responsible for teaching, learning, quality assurance, student recruitment, student services, and access/widened participation.

In 1998 Richard joined the College of Law where he has been the Director of its London Bloomsbury centre on the College's Board of Management. He has held visiting positions at  various universities, including the LSE, Warwick and the University of San Diego. He sits on various voluntary sector and public bodies related to higher education and to pro bono legal services.