Richard Coles qualified as a solicitor in 1972 and joined the ship finance department of Holman Fenwick & Willan in 1973, moving to Carter & Co in 1977 and becoming a partner the following year. He joined the maritime law firm Shaw and Croft in 1990, becoming Senior Partner from 2003 to 2007, before leading transactional superyacht work at Gateley's Shipping Unit from 2007 to 2014; he later became a consultant to Gateley. He has been a Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton's Institute of Maritime Law and has written 'Ship Registration: Law and Practice' and 'The Law of Yachts and Yachting'. He served 24 years in the UK Reserve Forces as a part-time legal staff officer.
Coles was a panellist at Mare Forum's Cayman Islands and Monaco Yacht Summits between 2014 and 2016.