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Dr. Richard Hern

Managing Director

Contact

London
Tel: +44 20 7659 8582
Fax: +44 20 7659 8501

Berlin
Tel: +49 30 700 1506 01

Email: richard.hern@nera.com
vCard: Download

Education

PhD in economics, Bristol University
MSc in economics and public policy, Bristol University
BSc in economics and mathematics, Bristol University

Experience

Dr. Richard Hern is a Managing Director, based in London. He leads the firm’s regulatory finance team and co-leads the International Arbitration Practice. He is also a member of NERA’s Board of Directors. Dr. Hern has nearly 25 years of experience as an economist, expert witness, and quantum of damages expert, providing testimony and advising law firms, utility companies, and governments throughout the Middle East, Europe, the US, Asia, and Latin America. His experience spans investor-state and commercial disputes, and international arbitration. He has prepared expert testimonies on a range of economic and finance issues, including commercial damages, business valuations, valuations in the context of political intervention, lost profits from construction delays, cost of capital and profitability assessments, and economic regulation.

Dr. Hern has acted as an independent expert witness on economic and quantum issues before many panels and tribunals, including the ICSID, PCA, ICC, UNCITRAL, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and several other international courts and high courts. His work spans many industries, including power, water, transport (airports/airlines shipping and toll roads), infrastructure, telecoms, petrochemicals, and real estate. 

He has been identified as one of the leading valuation and damages experts in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration and Who’s Who Legal: Consulting Experts – Quantum of Damages where he is described by his clients as "an absolutely fantastic expert witness" who is "the first choice for quantum assessment" and is "excellent at cross-examination". His clients also praised his "ability to engage in a constructive dialogue with the client and counsel to test suggested valuation and pricing" and mentioned "the combination of his very calm demeanour and razor-sharp responses" are "very effective with tribunals”. Who’s Who Legal has recognized Dr. Hern as a leading arbitration expert witness (2019-2023).

Dr. Hern has published on risk and the cost of capital in utility and trade journals, and authored books on best practices in estimating the cost of capital for infrastructure assets. He has also acted as an independent expert to rule on appeals of tariff reviews by privatized utility companies and has advised the World Bank on mechanisms to reduce regulatory and political risk in developing countries. He has taught economics and finance courses at Bristol University and Bath University and is a regular speaker at conferences in the UK and abroad. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bristol. 

 
Title Type Author
Global Arbitration in the Energy Sector Published Article Julie M. Carey, Dr. Fabrizio Hernandez and Dr. Richard Hern
The Market or Comparables Approach White Paper By Dr. Richard Hern, Zuzana Janeckova, Yue (Jim) Yin and Konstantinos Bivolaris
International Arbitration White Paper Series White Paper
The Cost of Equity for Utilities – An International Perspective Presentation Dr. Richard Hern
Hurdle Rates and the Cost of Capital for Financing Electricity Generation in the UK Study By Dr. Richard Hern, Marija Spasovska, Jinzi Guo, et al.
Use of Inflation Indices in Water Sector Report By Dr. Richard Hern, James Grayburn, Zuzana Janeckova et. al.
Estimation of BT's Equity and Asset beta Report by Dr Richard Hern and Dominik Hübler
Changes in Hurdle Rates for Low Carbon Generation Technologies due to the Shift from ... Report By Dr. Richard Hern, Dominik Hübler, Zuzana Janeckova et al.
Expert Report Dr. Richard Hern
Critique of Report for the NMa on the Cost of Capital Report By Graham Shuttleworth, Dr. Richard Hern, and Dominik Huebler