About Richard Lambert

Richard N. M. Lambert brings more than five decades of litigation experience in state and federal courts to Parker & McConkie. Born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area, he graduated from Brigham Young University and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. He began his career as a Deputy District Attorney in Ventura County, California, from 1972 to 1981, then was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Utah in 1981. Over the next three decades, he served in key leadership roles including Criminal Chief and Senior Litigation Counsel, trying many of the region's most complex cases.

His career includes roles in the Singer/Swapp prosecution, the Kiplyn Davis homicide case, the Brian David Mitchell prosecution arising from the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping, the Unabomber investigation, and the Valerie Clark Miller cold-case homicide. From 2010 to 2025, he continued to serve the community through pro bono representation, criminal defense, and advocacy for victims of violent crime. Richard serves as trustee and vice chairman of the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation and is married to the former Mary Hayward. They are the parents of six children.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers

These results are credited to Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

$52.2 millionVerdictTop 10 in Utah · #4

A federal jury in Utah awarded $52.2 million to the survivors of Rulon Allred, believed at the time to be the largest wrongful death verdict in state history, against the woman who confessed in print to killing him 15 years earlier.

U.S. District Court, District of Utah · 1992Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

Parker and McConkie secured a $13.5 million settlement for the family of Lauren McCluskey, a University of Utah track athlete murdered on campus after police failed to act on her repeated stalking reports.

Salt Lake City / State of Utah · 2020Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$5 millionSettlement

The University of Utah agreed to pay $5 million to the parents of Zhifan Dong, a 19-year-old international student killed by her boyfriend at a Salt Lake City hotel in February 2022, after an internal review confirmed university staff missed repeated warning signs that she was in danger.

Salt Lake City / State of Utah · 2023Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$1.5 millionSettlement

Salt Lake County paid $1.5 million to the mother of a 25-year-old woman who died of methamphetamine toxicity at the county jail after nursing staff dismissed her overdose symptoms as a panic attack and left her unmonitored in a prone position.

Salt Lake County, Utah · 2023Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

University of Michigan Law School
J.D.
Brigham Young University
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Utah

Other attorneys at Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Salt Lake City firms

Christensen & Jensen, P.C.
Christensen & Jensen, P.C.
$4 million · $5 Million Verdict After Family Ended Life Support on a Wrong Terminal Prognosis
Cutt Kendell & Olson
Cutt Kendell & Olson
$3 Million Settlement for Unarmed 13-Year-Old With Autism Shot by Salt Lake City Officer After 911 Call
Dewsnup King Olsen Worel Havas
Dewsnup King Olsen Worel Havas
$16 Million Judgment Against Warren Jeffs and His Church for Girl Married at 14 to Her 19-Year-Old Cousin
Kesler & Rust
Kesler & Rust
$15.01 Million Verdict for Woman, 21, Who Died of Dehydration in Duchesne County Jail
Mortensen & Milne
Mortensen & Milne
$25 Million Verdict After 3-Year-Old Died in Corded Blind the Maker Could Have Fitted With a Tilt Wand

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.