After graduating from law school, Richman joined Andrews & Kurth in Houston, specializing in oil and gas litigation.

Richman had written articles and lobbied the Texas Legislature to eliminate partisan election of judges, arguing that they hinder the ability of courts to provide impartial justice.

Richman was part of a committee that successfully encouraged the Texas Legislature to enact legislation that has resulted in millions of dollars per year in additional funds for providers of legal services to the poor.

Richman was instrumental in organizing a group known as Family Law 2000 that seeks to find ways to educate parents about the effect that divorce can have on their children and to lessen the adversarial nature of legal proceedings when a marriage is dissolved.

Richman was nominated on May 9, 2001, by President George W. Bush to fill a vacancy on the Fifth Circuit created by Judge William Lockhart Garwood, who assumed senior status on January 23, 1997.

Richman had considerable judicial experience as a member of the Texas Supreme Court, and had been rated "Well-Qualified" (highest possible) by the American Bar Association for the Fifth Circuit position.

[3] According to ABC News reporter Jan Crawford Greenburg, Senate Democrats strategically "targeted outspoken conservatives who were potential Supreme Court picks....their successes in filibustering women, Hispanics, and African Americans in 2003 undermined Bush's plans to replace [retiring U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor] with another woman or a minority.

Richman was touted as a judicial conservative who would, in the words of President Bush, "interpret the law, not legislate from the bench.

[6] On abortion, Richman was criticized by pro-choice groups for her interpretation of Texas's parental-notification law, and for joining a majority decision on overrides only once.

[10][1] In 2005, Richman was often cited as a potential Bush Supreme Court nominee to replace retired justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

[11] In June 2015, Richman joined Judge Carolyn Dineen King in reversing an unconditional writ of habeas corpus granted to Albert Woodfox, one of the Angola Three inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

In 2010, Richman joined Emilio M. Garza and Edith Brown Clement in affirming the dismissal of the complaint in Doe v. Silsbee Independent School District.

was a cheerleader who was ordered by her high school to cheer for her alleged rapist, a basketball player named Rakheem Bolton.