Richard Monteith has represented only the accused since 1992, a decision he made at the start of his career and has never reversed over more than three decades of practice. His office maintains two locations, at 14 Londonderry Road in Londonderry and at 848 Elm Street, Third Floor, in Manchester, and serves clients across New Hampshire’s major courts from Portsmouth to Nashua and the communities in between. The phone number is 603-437-2733.
That single-side commitment is not unusual for public defenders. It is much rarer in private practice, where financial pressures often push attorneys toward whatever matters come through the door. Monteith chose private practice and restricted it entirely to criminal defense and personal injury, carrying a philosophy of representation formed early in his career through to the present. He briefly worked with the Providence, Rhode Island Public Defender’s Office after graduating from Franklin Pierce Law Center, now the University of New Hampshire School of Law, in 1992, then moved into private practice in New Hampshire. His service on only one side of criminal cases since the beginning of private practice means he has never had occasion to develop the perspective or habits of a prosecutor. That distinction matters in how defense is approached.
The courtrooms he has worked in include cases of the most serious kind. First degree murder, second degree murder, bank robberies, first degree assault, federal drug conspiracies. These are not the cases of a generalist who occasionally handles serious charges. They are part of the ordinary scope of a practice built around defending the accused.
Practice Areas
Criminal Defense: The firm handles violent crimes at every level of seriousness, from misdemeanor offenses through felony charges involving significant prison exposure. This includes DWI and DUI matters, drug possession charges, property crimes, motor vehicle offenses, domestic violence allegations, white collar crimes, juvenile delinquency matters, and cases involving synthetic marijuana.
The range of charges reflects the actual distribution of cases that move through New Hampshire’s criminal courts. Clients come with misdemeanor charges that nevertheless carry real consequences for employment and housing, and with felony charges that can determine the direction of the rest of their lives. The firm handles both ends of that spectrum.
Federal matters, including the federal drug conspiracies Monteith has handled, require familiarity with a different procedural environment than state court. Federal prosecutions move differently, sentencing guidelines operate differently, and the resources available to federal prosecutors typically exceed what state charging agencies bring to bear. Handling federal cases is a distinct competency.
Personal Injury: The firm also handles personal injury matters, including car accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall cases, and dog bites. Representing injured people in New Hampshire requires the same attention to evidence, insurance company behavior, and damages calculation that criminal defense requires in its own way. The firm handles personal injury alongside its criminal practice.
Attorney Profiles
Richard Monteith was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. He attended the University of New Hampshire and Franklin Pierce Law Center, graduating in 1992. His first position after law school was briefly with the Providence, Rhode Island Public Defenders Office, experience that grounded his commitment to representing accused individuals before he moved into private practice in New Hampshire.
Since 1992, his private practice has been devoted exclusively to representing the accused. The cases he has tried include first degree murder, second degree murder, bank robberies, first degree assault, and federal drug conspiracies. That case history places him firmly among New Hampshire attorneys with genuine trial experience in high-stakes criminal matters.
His background in Manchester gives him long familiarity with the courts and legal community of the state’s largest city. His two office locations, in Londonderry and Manchester, reflect the geography of his service area and make the firm accessible from both the southern tier of the state and the Manchester metro.
Location and Service Area
The firm maintains two offices. The Londonderry office is at 14 Londonderry Road, Londonderry, NH 03053. The Manchester office is at 848 Elm Street, Third Floor, Manchester, NH 03101.
The service area covers Manchester, Concord, Portsmouth, Derry, Salem, Nashua, Bedford, and surrounding New Hampshire communities. This geographic span encompasses the state’s major population centers and court locations, allowing the firm to represent clients wherever their cases are heard in New Hampshire.
Manchester is the state’s largest city and the location of major court activity. Concord hosts the superior court and the state’s appellate courts. Portsmouth, Nashua, Salem, and the surrounding communities generate substantial caseloads in their own courts. The firm’s two-location setup and broad service area reflects the reality of how legal matters are distributed across southern New Hampshire.
Client Focus
The firm’s criminal defense practice serves people who face the weight of the state’s charging apparatus. That weight is real. Prosecutors have investigative resources, institutional relationships with courts, and the backing of law enforcement agencies. A defendant who enters the system without experienced counsel faces those resources without a counterbalance.
Richard Monteith’s thirty-plus years of representing only the accused means that his perspective, his habits of thought, his tactical instincts are all formed by that one-sided experience. He does not mentally toggle between prosecution and defense thinking. He thinks like a defense attorney because that is all he has ever done in private practice.
Personal injury clients come to the firm dealing with physical recovery alongside the legal and insurance processes that a serious accident triggers. The firm handles injury matters with the same attention to building and presenting a client’s case that it brings to criminal defense.
The two office locations and the firm’s coverage of New Hampshire’s major courts mean that most clients in southern New Hampshire can access representation without extensive travel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of criminal cases does the firm handle?
The firm handles the full range of criminal matters in New Hampshire, from misdemeanors and DWI charges through felonies including violent crimes, drug offenses, property crimes, white collar matters, and federal cases. Attorney Monteith has tried first degree and second degree murder cases, bank robberies, and federal drug conspiracies.
Why does it matter that the firm represents only the accused?
An attorney who has practiced entirely on one side of criminal cases thinks differently about defense than one who regularly switches between prosecution and defense work. The habits, instincts, and analytical approach that develop over three decades of exclusive criminal defense practice are not identical to those of an attorney who also does prosecution work or regularly shifts perspectives.
Does the firm handle personal injury cases?
Yes. The firm handles car accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall cases, and dog bites in New Hampshire.
Does the firm have a location in Manchester?
Yes. There are two office locations: 14 Londonderry Road in Londonderry and 848 Elm Street, Third Floor, in Manchester. The Manchester office provides accessibility to clients in the state’s largest city.
What should I do immediately after being charged with a crime?
Contact a defense attorney before speaking with investigators or making any statements. Early intervention by counsel shapes what happens at every subsequent stage of the case. What is said, and what is not said, in the early stages of a criminal matter often has lasting consequences.
Closing
Thirty years of private practice on the defense side only, two New Hampshire office locations, experience in the most serious criminal matters the state’s courts see, and coverage of a service area that runs from Manchester through Portsmouth, Concord, Nashua, and surrounding communities, this is what the Law Office of Richard Monteith offers. Individuals in New Hampshire facing criminal charges or dealing with personal injury matters can contact the firm at 603-437-2733 or by visiting attorneymonteith.com/.