Richard Guerriero

Richard Guerriero, of Keene, NH, is one of New Hampshire’s most skilled, experienced, and respected criminal defense attorneys. Richard has over 30 years of litigation experience, in state and federal court, at all levels, from trial courts to state supreme courts, to the United States Supreme Court.

What more can you say about the level of professional esteem he has earned from his colleagues, than the fact that he recently completed a very successful year as the elected President of the NH Bar Association.

Richard’s integrity and skills have been recognized throughout his years of practice:

• Elected President of the NH Bar Association, served from June, 2021 to June 18, 2022.
• Appointed a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, which limits its membership to 1% of the lawyers in any state.
• Recognized as a Champion of Justice in 2005 by the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
• Perhaps the only NH lawyer to receive this honor in two different States — he was previously recognized a Champion of Justice in 1992 by the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
• Recognized in 2009 by the New Hampshire Bar Foundation, which awarded him the Frank Rowe Kenison Award for public service.
• Serves on the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Ethics Committee.
• Serves on the New Hampshire Bar Association's Continuing Legal Education Committee.
• Long time member of the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Since 1985, Richard has focused his practice on criminal defense. He routinely represents clients accused of misdemeanors and felonies of all varieties, including homicides, sex crimes, white collar crimes, drug crimes, and DWIs. Through intense pretrial litigation and investigation, creative trial practice, and thorough appeals when necessary, Richard has saved many clients from wrongful convictions and unfair sentences.

Richard has the benefit of both long experience in New Hampshire and experience in courts in other states. He has tried major cases in New Hampshire, Louisiana, and even Alaska. Richard received national attention as one of New Hampshire’s few attorneys to have argued a case in the United States Supreme Court: Perry v. New Hampshire, 132 N.H. 716 (2012) (read coverage of arguments and Richard's role in Perry).

Richard began his legal career in 1984 at the Supreme Court of Louisiana, as Law Clerk to Justice James L. Dennis, who was later elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. After his clerkship, Richard was in private practice as a criminal defense attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana until 1993. In 1994 Richard came to New Hampshire where he has practiced in Keene and throughout the state for two decades. Because of his experience and skill, Richard was selected to serve as the Litigation Director of the New Hampshire Public Defender, coordinating the training and litigation support for 100+ public defenders and 50+ criminal contract attorneys, from 2000 to 2012.

Richard graduated Magna Cum Laude from Louisiana State University in 1981, and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. He earned his Juris Doctor from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1984, where his notes and articles were published in the school’s law review.

Richard Guerriero In the News

Defense Seeks Dismissal of Charges in Manslaughter Case

Attorneys Negotiating Resolution of Pornography Case

Sexual Assault Charge Dropped

Town Official Sentenced to 30 Days for Misappropriation of Funds Over 6 Year Period

NY Times: Eye Witness Reliability Argued at the United States Supreme Court