MEET RICHARD
ADVOCATE: Practice Areas + Recognitions
Richard Hricik is a trial and appellate attorney with more than 30 years of experience litigating complex wrongful death, serious personal injury, and constitutional civil rights violations in state and federal courts resulting in millions of dollars in recoveries for his clients.** His practice focuses on high-stakes matters involving catastrophic injury, products liability, medical negligence, commercial vehicle crashes, and institutional accountability.
Licenses & Bar Memberships
- SC & OH Courts & Federal District Courts
- 4th & 6th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals
- Bar Member - Supreme Court of the United States
- Associations: Federal Bar, SC Association for Justice, American Association for Justice
Recognition and Professional Distinctions
- AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
- National Trial Lawyers Top 100 – South Carolina
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- SuperLawyer
- 2024 SC Lawyers Weekly - Newsmaker Award
Published Decisions
- Williams v. Charleston Cnty. Sheriff’s Office, Sup. Ct. No. 25-640, 2026 U.S. LEXIS 1486 (Mar. 23, 2026)
- Washington v. Housing Auth. of Columbia , 58 F.4th 170 (4th Cir. 2023)
Professional Appointments, Consulting, & Expert Witness
Appointed by the South Carolina Supreme Court, Richard serves as an Attorney to Assist the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, participating in investigations of attorney misconduct, and as a Fee Dispute Hearing Officer ruling on attorney-client disputes over fees. He is active in supporting the legal community through service with Lawyers Helping Lawyers. He regularly advises attorneys and law firms on professional responsibility, litigation strategy, and ethical compliance, and is retained as an expert witness on attorney standard of care in legal malpractice matters.
NEWSMAKER: Righting Wrongs
Richard has achieved significant newsworthy results at both the trial and appellate levels. He recently secured a $2+ million settlement and a precedent-setting victory in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in litigation arising from a fatal carbon monoxide exposure at a public housing complex (Allen Benedict Court Apartments, Columbia, South Carolina).**
Story: https://tinyurl.com/3mydcpax
Settlement:https://tinyurl.com/c8ncr54v
He has relentlessly pursued justice in a high-profile wrongful death case involving a Charleston County Deputy who was racing to a non-emergency stalled vehicle without using lights and sirens, who struck and killed a mother and two daughters on Mother's Day 2022.
Story & Press Conference: https://tinyurl.com/mvv8wevb
At the U.S Supreme Court he just successfully obtained a grant of certiorari, vacatur, and remand in Williams v. Charleston Cnty. Sheriff’s Office, No. 25-640, 2026 U.S. LEXIS 1486 (Mar. 23, 2026). The decision removes immunity from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office as to civil rights claims brought from that Mother's Day crash and will bring much-needed accountability to all Sheriff's Departments across South Carolina. The case was just remanded back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for further proceedings.
Story: https://tinyurl.com/2crt9d8p
SCOTUS Opinion: https://tinyurl.com/4mbprsh4
PROFESSOR: William & Mary Law + CSOL
Richard serves as adjunct faculty at both William & Mary Law School (alma mater ’93) and Charleston School of Law, where he teaches Constitutional Civil Rights Litigation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, with a focus on integrating constitutional doctrine with trial and appellate advocacy in complex litigation.
He previously served on the faculty of Charleston Southern University, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Constitutional Law and Criminal Justice to police officers, correction professionals, and other criminal justice students.
A frequent speaker and presenter on constitutional issues, civil rights litigation, and legal strategy, Richard has presented at CLE programs hosted by the South Carolina Association for Justice, and has served as a panelist at both William & Mary Law School and Charleston School of Law.
He also appears in television and other media as a legal commentator on these and other legal issues.