Richard S. Sterger

I founded Sterger Law Group on a simple belief: that the people who need a lawyer the most deserve one who actually shows up for them — in the courtroom and throughout every step of the process.

I am a trial attorney. I handle criminal defense, immigration, and personal injury litigation, and I take cases to trial. That willingness to fight — rather than settle for whatever is convenient — is what distinguishes the firm and what my clients count on.

Personal injury litigation now occupies roughly half of my practice. I do not intake personal injury cases directly — instead, personal injury attorneys associate me and my team in when a case is headed to trial or involves genuinely contested liability. Over time, we have built a litigation and trial support team specifically suited to that work, and those referral relationships have become a meaningful part of how the firm operates.

Before law, I spent over a decade building businesses that generated more than $2 billion in revenue for Fortune 100 companies in the mobile device industry. That background taught me how institutions think, how they protect themselves, and where they are vulnerable. I bring that understanding into every case I take — whether I'm facing a prosecutor, an insurance company, or a government agency.

I came to the law through a winding road, shaped in part by a personal history that gave me an early and lasting understanding of what it means to navigate systems that weren't built with you in mind. That experience informs how I approach my clients — with patience, without judgment, and with a commitment to making sure they understand what is happening at every stage of their case.

Admitted To Practice

California, 2021
Minnesota, 1998
California Supreme Court
Minnesota Supreme Court
US District Court, Central District of California
US District Court, Southern District of California
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Education

University of Minnesota Law School
JD - Juris Doctor
Antioch University
BA - Bachelor of Liberal Arts, Philosophy

Professional Memberships

American Immigration Lawyers Association
Faculty, Trial Lawyers College
Consumer Attorneys San Diego
Trial By Human

Languages
English