Sterling & Associates · Est. 1991
For over three decades, Sterling & Associates has represented the most consequential clients in Southern California — Fortune 500 executives, entertainment principals, and private families — with absolute discretion and decisive results.
Areas of Practice
Our practice spans the full spectrum of complex legal matters, staffed by specialists who have spent careers mastering their fields.
High-net-worth divorce, complex asset division, and child custody matters handled with surgical precision and steadfast discretion. We protect what you have built over a lifetime while navigating the most personal legal terrain imaginable.
Pre-charge investigation through trial and appeal, our criminal defence team has secured acquittals in cases that the prosecution considered airtight. We engage at the highest levels and move decisively from day one.
Catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation prosecuted with the resources of a national firm. We have recovered over $120 million in verdicts and settlements for clients whose lives were irrevocably altered by another's negligence.
Commercial acquisitions, development joint ventures, and title disputes across California's most competitive real estate markets. We close complex transactions and resolve disputes that other firms walk away from.
Mergers, acquisitions, partnership disputes, and shareholder litigation for founder-led businesses and institutional clients alike. Strategic counsel at every stage of a company's lifecycle, from formation through exit.
Multi-generational estate planning, trust administration, and contested probate for families with significant assets. We design structures that endure, protect, and transfer wealth with maximum efficiency across generations.
Proven Results
Selected representative matters. All case details anonymised to preserve client confidentiality.
Motor vehicle collision resulting in permanent spinal injury. We overcame an aggressive defence strategy from a major insurer's specialist counsel to secure a verdict that fully compensated our client for lifetime care costs and lost earnings.
A closely held technology company sought to freeze out a minority shareholder following acquisition offers. We obtained emergency injunctive relief within 48 hours and achieved a negotiated resolution preserving full equity value.
Complex dissolution involving business interests, real property across three states, and trust assets. Our financial forensics team identified and valued concealed community property, securing an equitable outcome in a heavily contested matter.
All charges dismissed pre-trial following our investigation exposing evidentiary chain-of-custody failures. A senior executive's career and freedom preserved through exhaustive pre-charge engagement with prosecutorial authorities.
Contested commercial development in West LA involving breach of joint venture agreement and fraudulent misrepresentation. Arbitration award covered lost profits, consequential damages, and full legal costs against a well-resourced institutional opponent.
Our People
Client Perspectives
"Sterling & Associates did not merely handle our case — they transformed what appeared to be an insurmountable dispute into a decisive and complete victory. The strategic clarity Michael Sterling brought to our situation was unlike anything I have experienced in thirty years of dealing with legal counsel."
"When my family faced circumstances of the deepest personal gravity, Sarah Chen navigated every complexity with a sophistication and compassion that I had not believed possible in the same attorney. The outcome exceeded every expectation."
"David Park understood within hours what other attorneys took weeks to grasp. His prior experience on the other side of the courtroom proved invaluable — the charges were dismissed entirely, and my career was preserved intact."
"Emma Walsh prosecuted our personal injury claim with the tenacity and thoroughness of someone fighting for a member of their own family. The verdict she achieved will provide care and security for our son for the rest of his life."
"The firm's real estate practice resolved in weeks a property dispute that had languished for three years before we engaged them. Focused, thorough, and absolutely relentless. I would not consider using any other firm for matters of consequence."
Schedule a Consultation
Every matter is handled with complete confidentiality. We have served public figures, executives, and private families for over three decades without a single breach of client trust.
Your matter will be led by a partner, not delegated to junior associates. We accept a limited number of engagements each year to ensure every client receives the depth of attention they deserve.
We advise on the intersection of legal, financial, and reputational risk. Our counsel is proactive, comprehensive, and oriented toward outcomes measured in years, not billing cycles.
A member of our team will respond within one business day.
All communications are strictly confidential.