Practice Areas

Excellence in courtroom advocacy and business transactions. Our dedicated attorneys are focused on understanding and meeting your specific needs, offering practical and cost-effective legal solutions.

Business Disputes and Transactions

Our skilled attorneys offer guidance on establishing, growing, and maintaining successful operations.

Real Estate

Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers represent clients in the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of residential and commercial real estate.

Family Law

Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers experience in Family Law extends into divorce, spousal and child support, custody and visitation and more.

Civil Litigation and Personal Injury

We represent clients in civil litigation including personal injury, contract disputes, product liability, defamation and libel cases.

Trusts, Estates & Probate

Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers help you establish estate planning components that can ensure your legacy plays out as you intend.

Employment

We represent both employers and employees in class actions, wage claims, discrimination, compliance issues, and more.

Construction Defect

Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers are able to evaluate and litigate all construction defect claims at the standard the law requires.

They got the job done. Period.

Samuel Loy
Google review

Our Story

30+ Years Serving the Los Angeles area

Over the past 30 years, Stearns & Ryan (SR Lawyers) has represented clients at all levels of wealth and with a wide range of needs, amassing significant knowledge and experience across several practice areas. But the lawyers’ mission has remained steadfast: to provide each client with ardent advocacy, highly skilled legal services and straight talk.

Our Story

Our recent accomplishments & Success Stories

Civil &
Real Estate
Litigation

23 Million

Defense judgment for client developer on $23 million personal injury claim.

3.5 Million

Successfully defend individuals accused of aiding and abetting securities Ponzi scheme–$3.5 million in damages sought.

Ryan Stearns of Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers defends multi-million dollar fraud and intentional interference claims—all 12 jurors finding for our client.
Defense counsel on Federal class action dismissed at pleadings stage on $10 million to $30 million fraud claim.
Publicly traded company pays high six figures in settlement to former employees for past wages, attorney’s fees and costs incurred.
Seller of commercial property ordered to specifically perform and sell commercial property to buyer valued in excess of $3 million.
Lender represented by “Big Law” firm handed loss by Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers. Judge finds its multi-million dollar loan procured by fraud.

Employment
Litigation

1 + Million

Clothing wholesaler to pay seven figure settlement on wage and hour class action, where wholesaler’s expert opined damages approximated $50,000.

Negotiated wage and hour class action claim against multi-national vehicle assembler claiming damages approximating $20 million to low six figure settlement.
Sexual harassment claim against employer dismissed following mediation of multiple employees’ claims upon demonstration that claims were fabricated.
Prosecuted multi-million dollar mortgage lender for whistleblower retaliation and wrongful termination.
Six figure settlement obtained for care taker of elder for violation of wage and hour laws.

Estate & Trust Litigation

2 Million

$2 million awarded to beneficiaries of spouse who died during divorce proceedings, over objection of surviving spouse who claimed entitlement to property as a consequence of other spouse’s death.

Multi-million dollar estate left to care taker of elder pursuant to trust amendment near elder’s death set aside on ground that caretaker committed fraud and undue influence against elder by caretaker.
Child of deceased parent to receive additional $1 million in dispute with charity over interpretation of will. Charity contended client entitled to zero.
Estate of deceased spouse ordered to pay surviving spouse support and share of estate despite premarital agreement and trust providing that surviving spouse receives nothing.

Family
Law

400 Million

Premarital agreement determined conscionable, thereby affirming approximate $400 million dollar separate property estate to spouse.

2 Million

Establish that business claimed to be separate property by spouse was community property, resulting in $2 million award to client.

Ryan Stearns and Kathleen Choe eliminate spousal support on 24 year marriage and obtain six figure Family Code section 271 sanction against opposing spouse at trial.
Spousal support terminated upon court’s determination that ex spouse failed to attempt self-support and failed to prudently manage property awarded under judgment.
Visitation granted to parent with long history of drug abuse upon demonstrating of rehabilitation, and that claims of abuse toward other parent were not true.
Succeed in terminating spousal support from a long-term marriage–$26,000 per month to zero.
Successfully defend claim of parental alienation, with court ordering accuser to pay client’s attorney’s fees and costs.

Meet Our Lawyers

Partners Ryan Stearns and Michael Ryan are backed by a diverse group of highly trained lawyers and support staff. When clients hire Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers, they get the whole team: talented professionals, fully versed in current legal developments.

At Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers, our skilled team of attorneys is committed to delivering top-tier legal services across discrete, diverse practice areas. Focused on understanding and meeting your specific needs, our attorneys aim to provide practical and effective solutions.

What our clients say about Stearns & Ryan, Lawyers

I cannot say enough about the skill, professionalism, and expertise of the lawyers at Stearns & Ryan. Ryan Stearns and his team provided me insight to what I should expect in my litigation matter, educated me on the law governing my case, and in the end got me the result I wanted. I could not be more pleased and grateful. They have stunning offices on top of that.

David Schwartz Attorney

The Stearns & Ryan lawyers are an incredibly talented group. I had an extremely complex and highly litigious piece of probate litigation. Ryan Stearns, his associate, Paula Dionne, took the complexity of my case and were able to simplify it in a manner that was both understandable and persuasive for the court. Hence, we’ve been winner with Stearns & Ryan.

Benjamin Chui

Our company has been a client to the firm for over 30 years. You can say that we’ve grown up with the lawyers at Stearns & Ryan, and vice versa. We’ve placed tens of millions of dollars in the hands of Stearns & Ryan whether in the form of litigation or transactional matters and have always appreciated the work this firm has done for us and the results achieved.

Joseph R. real estate developer

Our construction company was being pursued wrongfully by a national “Big Law” firm, threatening to take everything our family had built over the last 40 years. Ryan Stearns and Michael Ryan took on this firm and got our company and our family a victory. We’re in business today because of Stearns & Ryan.

John B. builder

As general counsel to a multi-million dollar business purpose lender, we are very discriminating when it comes to the selection of outside counsel for our company. Stearns & Ryan is the consummate boutique firm consisting of lawyers with exceptional talents. Each piece of work I place with them follows with exceptional results.

Alan D. general counsel