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Richard Lee Sanders

Criminal defense Attorney at Park City, UT

5.0   1 review
  • Licensed for 7 years
    State UT
    Acquired 2015
    Status
    Active No misconduct found

We have not found any instances of professional misconduct for this lawyer.

About Richard

Learn Richard’s areas of practice.

5
Practice areas
  1. Criminal defense
    48%
    I have reached the best possible outcome (in my judgment) via a thorough investigation of discovery, including donating some of my own time, and going above and beyond whenever possible to therefore have the most compelling arguments to give to the prosecution, in order to secure the best possible plea deals (and so far, so good, in my judgment.) Of course I am not afraid of trial and was eager and willing to take the felony case to trial if the State of Utah had not given us everything.

    8 years, 3 cases

  2. Divorce and separation
    25%
    I am currently representing a divorce with a complex constitutional issue at the heart of it, proffer hearing is scheduled but has yet to occur, in another divorce case I represented a party in a limited role but successfully moved the court to modify its own final order multiple years after the fact.

  3. Family
    25%
    Represented my grandma and then later after that terminated I wound up representing my mother. I'd rather not be representing my personal family but I can help in these matters.

    8 years, 3 cases

  4. DUI and DWI
    1%
    I believe myself more than qualified to handle this, especially for first offenders.

    7 years

  5. White collar crime
    1%
    I can handle this to a point, I am not a forensics accountant but I know how to argue about bad checks, and I have an econ degree for whatever that counts for.

    7 years

I grew up in a relatively poor town in Utah and put myself through an Economics degree and a J.D. (and I had to work jobs to do it, along with borrow money for student loans). I know what it is like to have limited means, I know how it feels to be encumbered by debt, and I know how damn expensive lawyers can be. I choose to be different. 

I care deeply about people, and I want to help people as much as I can. If it were possible to operate this law practice for free I would do it. Unfortnately, it is not. However, tokeep costs down, I run it myself, I do all the work, I take every client and issue very seriously, put my whole heart into it, and I do it as inexpensively as I can possibly manage. It is not a business strategy (if it were, it would not be a good one) but the fact is, people are what matter to me. And I want to help anybody I reasonably can, in particular those who have limited means. It is a cause I am extremely passionate about. It is who I am. 

As for personal details:

I love to ski, drive my old MX-5 on a canyon road in good weather, play a good game of chess (not to boast but I have yet to find anybody who can consistently beat me in person), I love sipping a nice cup of tea (Black, Earl Grey) while discussing basically anything with anybody. I love virtually everyone and tend to look for and assume the best in people, and also believe that each person's unique life experience gives them a perspective that only they are truly qualified to share, so I always love to hear it.

I like to be active and keep in shape, I'm a former competitive swimmer (breaststroke primarily). It has been many years, though, and I suspect my form is still pretty good (I even was WSI Certified and taught swimming for a while back in 2004 or 2005) I'm sure my "speed" is rubbish now. 

At my election (or insistence? I cannot honestly recall) I was administered a clinical IQ test in 2008 or 2009 (I infer that it must have been the WAIS-IV) and I remember my score was 141. I interpret this to mean that I am just smart enough to be really annoying, but not smart enough to actually contribute any inventions or discoveries to science. 

Politically I'm a bit of a lefty and battle-causes that are dear to my heart, aside from income inequality, are virtually any other inequality issue as it may arise. Whether it be about gender roles (I am avowedly against the notion of them) or issues of rights and civil liberties relating to race, sexual preference, or other criteria, I find myself eagerly wanting to assist somehow.

If you are a person of faith, I respect that, my own parents are deeply religious, however I am an agnostic. I do not claim to have any of the answers to the really "big questions" and (as a former statistics student) tend to favor the "null hypothesis" unless convinced otherwise. However, I disliked feeling like I was trapped in a vacuum without any sort of creed or standard to hold myself accountable to, so I made one for myself (after a great deal of thought). I have included it at the very bottom, if you are interested. Despite migrating my career in a direction that exposes me to some of the less pleasant aspects of society, I still prefer to see the good in people and am, always, unfailingly, deeply committed to my ethics (which of course includes attorney-client confidentiality). 

I have in fact published eight novels (not including audiobook versions of most of them--professionally recorded, trust me you would not want to listen to me reading the books for hours on end!) and I have also published one short story.

I tend to adopt the attitude that "fortune favors the bold" and am not intimidated by the idea of defense, or going to trial, or litigation generally, should push come to shove. (Of course if better tactics avail themselves I would always recommend those first). I took my felony defense case with no experience at all and I poured in many, many extra hours (of my own time, naturally, I would never bill them to the client in such a situation) and I still believe the outcome of that case is probably the greatest thing I have ever done in my life (so far). 

Despite my limited number of cases (which should rapidly grow in the near future) I have spent a lot of time in court, I have two mentors (an official one and an unofficial one) and both arfe excellent and I try to observe them, and learn from them, whenever I possibly can. 

I am also a proud member of the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and so I believe that the tools are at my disposal to tackle just about anything you can throw at me. (Quick note: If it is a gravely serious criminal defense matter, such as multiple felony ones facing the possibility of life in prison or capital punishment, or something overwhelmingly complex, I would not take the case for ethical reasons on the basis that I cannot guaratee that you would get the quality of defense you deserve, even if it means turning down a "good paying job" I shall only represent cases that I genuinely and for good reason believe I am more than a match for the challenge.)

That is about as long as I can drone on talking about myself. I'm a pretty chatty guy so I tend not to bill by the hour if I can avoid it (and if I do have to bill by the hour then I will substract any time that I feel was not directly used for the purpose of advancong the case.)

To anybody interested, here is my own personal creed:
"1. This life may be all you get, make it count; 2. Take care of yourself, live as long and well as you can; 3. Be bold and take risks, but don't be a damn fool about it; 4. Never let doubt nor fear prevent you from being the real you; 5. Have confidence, be proud, but don't think you are worth more than others; 6. If there is genuine need, and you can reasonably help, always do so.; 7. Try to improve, always, but also forgive yourself. 8. Restatement of 1." 

Contact Richard

Similar lawyers nearby

Richard Sanders Law, LLC
1650 Park Ave Ste 203
Park City, UT, 84060-5147

Reviews

5.0 / 5.0
  1 customer review
5 Star
 
100%
4 Star
 
0%
3 Star
 
0%
2 Star
 
0%
1 Star
 
0%
Posted by Matthew | October 19, 2016
This review is from a person who hired this attorney.
| Hired Attorney
Best lawyer in park city
Richard Sanders helped me through multiple cases and I got the best outcome possible!

Cost

Rates
  • Free Consultation 120 minutes
  • Hourly Rates $ 50-100 per hour
  • Pro bono 40 %
  • Retainer Always

Resume

AVVO RATING 6.8 (Good)

Work Experience

  • Attorney; Solo-Practitioner
  • Richard Sanders Law, LLC
  • 2015 - Present
  • Publisher; Author; Owner
  • Richard L. Sanders Publishing, LLC
  • 2012 - 2016
  • Co-Founder
  • Mister Apps, LLC
  • 2010 - 2011

Education

  • Brigham Young University - J. Reuben Clark Law School
  • JD - Juris Doctor
  • 2014
  • University of Utah
  • Economics
  • 2011

Legal Cases

  • NIITSUMA vs. NIITSUMA
  • In Progress
  • STATE OF UTAH vs. NELSON, TAYLOR ASHTON
  • Felony reduced to Mis A; anger management agreed; 30 hr comm service agreed; $150 fine agreed; plea in abeyance granted; stipulation for motion to dismiss granted; stipulation for expungement granted
  • SALT LAKE CITY vs. HOGGARD, JESSE BURTON
  • All charges dismissed with prejudice except for a plea deal for 1x Class C Misdemeanor (Held in Abeyance)
View all legal cases

Associations

  • Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  • Member Attorney
  • 2016 - Present
  • Modest Means Attorney Volunteer Program
  • Volunteer Attorney
  • 2016 - Present
  • Tuesday Night Bar
  • Pro Bono Volunteer
  • 2016 - Present
  • Check Yes, Attorney Volunteer Program
  • Volunteer Attorney
  • 2016 - Present
  • Utah State Bar
  • Licensed Attorney
  • 2015 - Present
View all associations

Languages Spoken

  • English

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Park City Criminal defense Lawyer Richard Lee Sanders
Richard Lee Sanders
Criminal defense Attorney
Park City, UT
Licensed for 7 years
Free Consultation