Richard Alexander Murdaugh's story has been devoured by many, and if it were fiction, it would likely seem unbelievable.

The 56-year-old, who goes by Alex and was disbarred in 2022, was a fourth-generation lawyer from South Carolina's Lowcountry. Between 2020 and 2023, he went from being a well-known plaintiffs attorney and part-time volunteer prosecutor to a convicted murderer for the 2021 deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul.

He's also an admitted thief who pleaded guilty to stealing millions from clients and others.

Among those he stole from was the family of Gloria Satterfield, Murdaugh's longtime housekeeper who died after a fall at the house on the family's Moselle estate in Islandton, South Carolina. The theft involved an intricate scheme around a wrongful death claim, with no one telling the Satterfields when Murdaugh's insurance company settled the matter and that the money had arrived.

Over the past few years, many TV shows, YouTube videos and podcasts saw significant audience interest from anything Alex Murdaugh-related. Ronald Richter and Eric Bland, two South Carolina lawyers who in 2021 sued Murdaugh on the Satterfields' behalf, have been happy to share their opinions about him. 

According to Bland, he and Richter have been interviewed for TV more than 500 times and mentioned in around 5,000 different newspapers, magazines and journals. The two are name partners with Bland Richter, a South Carolina law firm. The firm's practice areas include legal malpractice and personal injury work.

Additionally, Bland has a self-published memoir, Anything But Bland, and he co-hosts the Cup of Justice podcast with journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell. The three share their thoughts about various matters, often ones involving Murdaugh, and address things the audience–many of whom are true-crime junkies and not lawyers–is curious about. 

While some lawyers question the ethics and wisdom of speaking to the press–or on a podcast–about ongoing legal cases, Bland and Richter say doing so has helped the Satterfields battle the power and prestige that comes with being a Murdaugh in South Carolina.

And while both are grateful for the attention their work and clients have received, neither are sure the fame will last.

"I think the only thing the press celebrates more than a rise is a fall," says Richter, who says he is pleased to be "on the right side of history" with the Alex Murdaugh case.

Bland describes Richter as more "reserved and cerebral," but the person who maintains the firm's heartbeat. Just don't call Richter the quiet one.

"I'm noisy in other places, so I'm not the quiet one," Richter says.

Bland has a rock 'n' roll front man's persona and calls himself a "motormouth," which can be an asset and a detriment.

Indeed, when discussing Murdaugh's motion for a new trial on Cup of Justice in December 2023, Bland said retired South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal, who was appointed by the court to hear Murdaugh's motion, was smart and prepared but did not have the best judicial temperament. 

"She pees on every corner in that courtroom. It's hers," Bland said on the show. He and Richter represent four jurors from Murdaugh's murder trial.

Toal denied Murdaugh's motion for a new trial in January 2024. In August, the South Carolina Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal, which argues that the county clerk prejudiced his jury. 

The Satterfields' story is one of Alex Murdaugh's first of many bad acts to go public. Gloria Satterfield died after a fall at Murdaugh's home in 2018, and he claimed she tripped over the family dogs.

Murdaugh's great-grandfather, grandfather and father ran the state's 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office over the years. According to a 2021 complaint filed by Satterfield's sons, Murdaugh encouraged them to hire his good friend, Cory Fleming, to represent them in bringing a lawsuit against him in connection with their mother's death; trusting Murdaugh, they did so. Fleming had another friend, a banker, serve as the estate's personal representative, the complaint says.

No one told Satterfield's sons that by law, they had priority to serve as the estate representative. And they also were not informed when the insurance settlement money arrived, the lawsuit states. 

In 2022, Alex Murdaugh was indicted in the murders of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and their son Paul at the kennels on the Moselle estate.

The government alleged Alex Murdaugh murdered his wife and son to hide financial problems. Murdaugh, who claims he is innocent of murder, took the stand, and testified that at one point, he was taking between 1,000 to 2,000 mg of oxycodone per day. He was convicted of murder in 2023. 

Two months after the verdict, Murdaugh's lawyers filed a motion stating he had lied about Satterfield tripping over the dogs, and that his $4.3 million confession of judgment should be vacated. The court denied the motion.

"Who else but Alex Murdaugh would even have the gall to pull something like this off?" Richter asked Columbia, South Carolina, news outlet WIS10.

In 2023, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to various federal financial crimes. In addition to his law clients, the Satterfield estate is mentioned among his victims. According to a South Carolina U.S. attorney's office news release, the family did not receive any settlement funds from him. Murdaugh admitted that he told Fleming to keep "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from the settlement funds and say they were case expenses. Additionally, Murdaugh told Fleming to direct approximately $3.5 million to an account he used personally, according to the news release.

The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina ordered Murdaugh to pay almost $8.8 million in restitution to his victims.

Bland says they have made fans by bringing claims against powerful people who make mistakes or intentionally do not act with regard to their clients' best interests.

As part of their Satterfield litigation strategy, Bland and Richter tag-teamed media outlets. Richter appeared on local media in the South Carolina Lowcountry, where the case took place. Bland covered national and local press in central South Carolina and the Upstate.

"This case required that it remain under the spotlight at all times," Richter says. "And so the best way to do that was to make sure that the national narrative continued to focus on the story."

"We created a media campaign like politicians do in real-time response," Bland adds. "If somebody said something or filed something, we would be the first out to talk about it." 

The two say they also needed the press because they were taking on a dangerous case, professionally and personally.

"We're in a small state. It's a small bar. This firm in that county was a pretty formidable opponent, not just in the courtroom," says Richter, referring to Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, which was the Hampton County, South Carolina, law firm where generations of Murdaughs, including Alex Murdaugh, practiced.

"They're very influential," Richter adds. "I can't say that I felt physically in danger, but professionally, I would call them a hard target."

Informally known as PMPED, the firm changed its name to the Parker Law Group in 2022. Its practice includes personal injury work and workers' compensation matters. John E. Parker did not provide a comment for the story to the ABA Journal.

The firm did issue a Jan. 6, 2021 statement about Murdaugh, which was published by Bluffton Today.

"We were shocked and dismayed to learn that Alex violated our principles and code of ethics. He lied and he stole from us. No member of PMPED was aware of Alex's scheme. When we learned he betrayed our trust, we requested his resignation immediately. We have yet to speak to anyone who was aware of his addiction to opioids," the statement reads. 

Richter and Bland have also spoken a great deal about Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old openly gay man who in 2015 was found dead on a rural South Carolina road. Shortly after Smith's death, a pathologist theorized he was walking on the road and was hit in the head by the side mirror of passing truck. Sandy Smith, the young man's mother, who is represented by Bland and Richter, thought his head injuries and a dislocated arm may have indicated her son was beaten to death somewhere else and later dropped off on the highway. In 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division reopened Stephen Smith's death investigation.

In 2023, after Stephen Smith's death was ruled a homicide, the two lawyers helped Sandy Smith publicize a GoFundMe page. The funds were raised to cover the cost of the exhumation and an independent autopsy of Stephen Smith's body. The effort raised more than $130,000 to investigate the death.

Some speculated that Alex's Murdaugh's other son, Buster Murdaugh, may have been involved in the death of Stephen Smith. Buster Murdaugh has not been arrested in the matter. In 2024, he sued various media groups, including Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Gannett for defamation.

Peter Joy, a Washington University School of Law professor and director of its Criminal Justice Clinic, says that when it comes to talking to the media, every case is different.

"First, the lawyer must determine if there's a benefit of talking to the media," Joy says. If there isn't, then they shouldn't pursue discussing it, he adds.

"A benefit of talking to the press could generate sympathy for a client or a client's situation," Joy explains. "On the other hand, if a lawyer or spokesperson for a client comes across as evasive or arrogant, that will hurt the client's case."

Also, Joy cautions that attorneys risk destroying attorney-client privilege and being disqualified from a case by speaking to the media.

Bland said they are "good students" of the American Bar Association's Rule of Professional Conduct 3.6, which addresses trial publicity. It holds that a lawyer involved in an investigation or litigation, or who has been involved in the matters, should not make statements outside of court that they know could prejudice a case.

"We were very conscious to address inconsistencies that parties in this case through their representatives would say to the media, and enlisting the public for their help if they know of information that could be a benefit to our cases," Bland says. "I don't think lawyers that we were dealing with were ready for the rapid response that we would have every day on social media."

Bland adds that he's prepared to handle attorney discipline complaints like the one filed in 2021, which he says was filed by one of Murdaugh's defense attorneys. According to the Island Packet, the complaint was filed by Dick Harpootlian, one of Murdaugh's defense lawyers and at the time a South Carolina senator. It argued that Bland's comments about Murdaugh were meant to taint jury pools and increase the amount of damages for the Satterfield family, the article says. 

Harpootlian told the Island Packet at the time he had no comment on the matter. He did not respond to ABA Journal interview requests. John Nichols, who heads the Supreme Court of South Carolina's Office of Disciplinary Counsel, told the publication he could not confirm or deny whether the complaint existed. Bland was quoted at great length in the article.

Indeed, Bland says he's dealing with several complaints, most of which involved things he said about Murdaugh.

"If you're going to be in the media, be prepared for grievances," Bland says. "Because the party that you're beating up in the media is going to try to shut you down."

Bland says the complaints are still open. When contacted by the ABA Journal, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel said that the court does not reveal the existence of a complaint when the matter is confidential, except to those directly involved or when necessary for a proper disposition of the matter.

Richter thinks Model Rule 3.6 needs updating in the era of 24-hour news and social media.

"I would question whether there's anything that I could say or anybody else could say that would substantially prejudice any proceeding, because we all disbelieve everything," he explains. 

He is sometimes concerned about saying too much, but he thinks it's more important to correct false narratives by the opposition.

In terms of modifying the rule, Richter suggests making it more focused on the proximity of time to the actual trials. He suggests a "blackout zone" of 90 days before the trial. According to him, it's difficult to imagine a juror's viewpoint will be influenced by something said by an attorney two years prior.

The ABA Center for Professional Responsibility reviews the model rules, and if lawyers have suggestions for change, the ideas can be sent to the center. Amendments to the model rules are voted on by the ABA House of Delegates. 

Lucian Pera, a former chair of the center, who has also served on the ABA House of Delegates and Board of Governors, says 3.6 is intentionally written in a way that assists all parties. 

He thinks certain statements could influence a juror two years before a trial.

"One of the benefits of the rule being the way that it is, is that it frankly discourages trial courts from entering gag orders," says Pera, a partner at Adams and Reese in Memphis, Tennessee.

Like Bland and Richter, Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh's criminal defense lawyers, has also appeared on podcasts and served as a co-host of The Presumption, a podcast focusing on criminal cases. But Griffin says he doesn't like focusing on the cases he's involved in.

"There is a need for lawyers to hold other lawyers accountable," Griffin says. "I think there's a way to do it that's very professional without you becoming the center of attention."

Thomas Pendarvis, a South Carolina attorney who has worked with Bland and Richter, also represents plaintiffs in legal malpractice cases, along with attorneys facing discipline. Regarding the legal malpractice cases, Pendarvis says he rarely if ever makes public statements.

"If you go to the newspaper, television, social media and start down that path, my view is you've made it more difficult to resolve the matter," he says. 

Another pitfall of lawyers obtaining celebrity status is the number of people with compelling cases who reach out and you can't help, either because of a statute of limitations or because there's no opportunity for financial recovery.

"We are not the police," Bland says. "We are not Dick Tracy. We are not solving a case that no one else could solve. Some [cases] we do get involved in, but we're litigators. We have to sue somebody." 

Williesha Morris has been a journalist since 2001. Her work has been featured in Wired and TechCrunch. She's currently a reporting fellow for Alabama Media Group.