Richard M. Darden

I was to appear in court October 1 for a misdemeanor. Richard Darden told me not to. He charged 4 thousand dollars upfront for his work on 2 soperate cases. After receiving the 4 thousand dollars, he claimed to have struck a "deal" with the state soliciter for $1,673.00 to finalize the case. I se...nt him the check, he cashed it. There is still a warrant out for my arrest for failing to appear in court. My probation officer, the state clerk, and the state solicitor are all unaware of this deal and have not heard from Richard Darden. I cannot contact him. He has not return a single phone call or email. I plan to do everything in my power to get my money back and, furthermore, to sue this firm for negligence.

My son needed a good criminal defense attorney and we called Richard Darden’s Law offices on a Sunday morning and within no time at all he returned our called. I was trying to tell him about my son’s case but was so emotional I could not. I ask him to hold on and I gave the phone to my husband who ...explained the circumstances to him. But, even in my emotional state I recall Mr. Darden being very calming and understanding of his potential client’s needs. Within a few hours we were meeting with him and after a few moments of discussion he told us he had read about my son case and indicated that the initial charge was unsubstantiated. After about an hour of talking with and him answering numerous questions we enlisted his services. His attorney’s fee was very reasonable and he indicated that the flat fee would be for the long haul. Once we finished our conversation he immediately went to see my son who was incarcerated to assure him he was not alone and he would fight for him, because he believed in his innocents. He also told us that he knew we wanted this to just be over with but it was going to take some time. However, within a month Mr. Darden presented evidence during a bond hearing and my son was granted a very reasonable bond and was released. During the nearly 4 years it took for a court date, Mr. Darden was always available to answer any questions or concern that we had and put our minds at ease. He was always honest and upfront, always giving us the best and worst case scenarios. At times we thought our son’s case had gotten lost in the system, but each time we contacted Mr. Darden and he assured us that he was continuously working on the case. Once on the court docket and within a few weeks after our initial plea hearing of not guilty……Mr. Darden asked for and got the case dismissed against my son and I will be forever grateful for the abundance of legal knowledge he presented from the beginning of the case until the plea hearing. He is an Excellent Criminal Defense Attorney and I would highly recommend him to anyone who need one of the Best!

This attorney is not trustworthy at all. Phone calls, voice mails and emails are hardly ever returned. The times that I was able to speak with him I was almost always rushed off the phone. He does not give his clients or their cases the attention that it deserve, although his website states that he w...ill give his clients 100% of his firm. When I first retained this attorney he was very eager to take on the case, even stating that he would fight very hard, then 6 months into payments he went totally sour. A lump sump payment was provided initially. He advised that he would go through the entire process of fighting and did not even come close. This attorney did not have to do hardly any work because it was all provided to him in writing, all he had to do was present in court. He went totally against his client wishes and supported the prosecution team (verbally) all while in court, he refused to point out the key important violations that he & I (his client) raised & agreed on before appearing in court. This attorney dropped the case at night and advised via communication by email, even charged me a few days before doing so, and also after advising 2 days prior that he would appeal if the judge rule against him. I am in the process of fighting trying to obtain a refund of some sort because this attorney did not provide full representation and went totally against his client. I have learned that you do not believe everything that an attorney has posted on his or her website, it may just turn out to be a sales pitch. There are attorneys that will do all that they can and will fight for justice for their people and then there are some that will prey and take advantage obviously believing that they are untouchable by a higher authority. Attorneys like this guy should not be able to charge a high amount of money when just filing an application.

After calling around and talking to several different lawyers, I decided to go with Mr. Darden. Although he was a more expensive choice, I can honestly say his representation was worth every penny. I have worked with multiple different lawyers in the past and Mr. Darden has definitely been the best t...o work with. He came and visited me at the jail almost immediately and got me out on bond. He kept me in the loop with my case during the whole process and always answered any questions I had. He is very good at his job and very intelligent. You can tell that he is respected and liked by his attorney peers. I would highly recommend this lawyer, and I honestly think that I would still be incarcerated if I hadn't called him.