Prior to joining SGR, Mr. Richards was an Associate at another large law firm in the southeast and served as Assistant Attorney General in the environmental section of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office. In private practice, he has handled litigation across a significant number of practice areas including construction, commercial lending, heavy-equipment financing, and creditor’s rights.

As an Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Richards managed a full litigation caseload across multiple state agencies including the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. He represented the agencies in motions hearings, defended depositions in multi-party litigation, and authored memoranda addressing various issues from contracts to statutory interpretation for his clients. Notably, Mr. Richards co-authored a brief resulting in a favorable ruling on summary determination in the Office of State Administrative Hearings keeping of $1.7 million in the Solid Waste Trust Fund.

Previously, Mr. Richards was honored with the Georgia State Bar Section on Environmental Law Award.

Mr. Richards earned his J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law, where he also obtained a Certificate in Land Use and Environmental Law. In addition, he competed with and subsequently coached the Environmental Moot Court team from 2018 to 2020. During law school, he was President of the Student Bar Association, Pupil of the Bleckley Inn of Court, Urban Fellows, a member of the university’s Environmental Law Society, and a Mediation Clinic participant. Mr. Richards holds a B.S. in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida.

In his free time, Mr. Richards enjoys listening to his record collection, getting a check mate in chess, hiking, a game of tennis, and cheering on his college football team – the Florida Gators.