He earned law degree at the St. Lawrence Academy in Potsdam, New York and then articled with his uncle Andrew Norton Buell in Brockville.

Leaving politics in June 1853, he was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas of Canada West and by 1863 he became Chief Justice.

[citation needed] With the creation of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1875 Richards was appointed directly to the position of Chief Justice which he stayed at until his retirement on January 10, 1879.

[citation needed] He was honoured with a knighthood, along with then Chief Justice of Quebec Antoine Aime Dorion.

[1] His brother Albert Norton Richards served in the Canadian House of Commons and was Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.