Richmond Mumford Pearson (June 28, 1805 – January 5, 1878) was an American jurist who served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1859 to 1878.

He was the father of Congressman Richmond Pearson and the father-in-law of North Carolina Governor Daniel Gould Fowle.

As Chief Justice, the "domineering" Pearson helped the Court survive the Civil War, frequently ruling against the Confederacy on issues of exemption from conscription and habeas corpus,[2] and saw it through the 1868 constitutional change that made the Court justices elected by popular vote, rather than by the General Assembly (legislature).

The present day community of Richmond Hill in Yadkin County is named for the law school.

Many of Pearson's students lived or worked across the Yadkin River in the village of Rockford in Surry County.