Richard Banfield

Richard’s professional background sits at the intersection of law, education, and technology. He worked in legal technology and software account management, including roles involving Westlaw, CoCounsel, AI-powered legal research tools, and legal research platforms used by attorneys, law firms, courts, government teams, and academic institutions. Through this work, he developed a strong understanding of how legal professionals research, write, evaluate arguments, and adapt to emerging technology in the legal field. He has worked as a Software Account Manager at IBM and Thomson Reuters. 

As a tutor, Richard has extensive experience helping students at a wide range of starting points. He has worked with students building foundational reasoning skills, students trying to move out of score plateaus, and high-scoring students aiming to break into the 170s. His tutoring emphasizes precision, structure, and confidence: helping students understand not only which answer is correct, but why the reasoning works and how to recognize similar patterns in future questions.

Richard has worked with students across a wide range of score bands. Students who work with him consistently often see meaningful gains, commonly around 8–12 points, with larger increases possible depending on their starting point, timeline, study consistency, and review process. Richard has helped students gain admission to schools across the T-14 and T-30, including Stanford Law School, New York University School of Law, Duke University School of Law, University of Michigan Law School, University of Virginia School of Law, Cornell Law School, and Notre Dame Law School.

Richard is especially passionate about working with students who may not have had access to traditional LSAT resources. He has volunteered significant time providing LSAT instruction to students who could not otherwise afford private tutoring, including recurring one-on-one support and group instruction. That work has shaped his tutoring philosophy: strong LSAT performance is not about memorizing tricks, but about learning how to read carefully, identify reasoning patterns, and build repeatable decision-making habits. Richard believes students improve most when they receive honest feedback, clear next steps, and a study strategy tailored to their goals. 

Outside of tutoring, Richard enjoys following developments in legal technology and AI, working with students as they navigate the law school admissions process, exploring new coffee shops, and spending time in Ann Arbor and Chicago. A fun fact about Richard is that he enjoys film and improv acting.