What Stris & Maher does

Stris & Maher LLP is a privately held, Los Angeles-headquartered litigation boutique founded in 2007 and structured as a California limited liability partnership. The firm represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex, high-stakes civil and appellate matters in federal courts throughout the United States, with principal offices in Los Angeles and additional offices in Vermont, Washington D.C., and Florida. Its core practices are ERISA and pension litigation, appellate advocacy (including U.S. Supreme Court work), intellectual property litigation, white-collar defense and investigations, and entertainment/media/sports litigation, with Chambers USA Band 1 rankings in ERISA (nationwide) and Appellate (California). Select client outcomes include over $285 million in ERISA recoveries in two years, a $186 million bitcoin-mining dispute settlement for Rhodium Enterprises, a $155 million False Claims Act settlement involving Eclinicalworks, a complete defense in a $180 million false advertising matter, and Supreme Court advocacy in the Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products trademark case.

The firm operates a partner-led, professional-services revenue model with traditional hourly billing for most matters and contingency or hybrid fee arrangements for plaintiff-side ERISA and consumer-protection cases. Client acquisition is driven by individual partner reputations, press coverage of case victories, alumni networks from prior government service, and peer referrals rather than formal business development. Recent senior lateral hires (former U.S. Attorney Nikolas Kerest, former Federal Public Defender Cuauhtémoc Ortega, former DOL appellate counsel Jeff Hahn, and others) have extended the bench into white-collar defense, ERISA appellate, and D.C. federal-court work, and the firm launched a criminal defense and investigations practice in June 2026.

Name

Stris & Maher

Legal name

Stris & Maher LLP

Website

https://stris.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stris & Maher LLP is a Los Angeles-headquartered litigation boutique representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex ERISA, appellate, intellectual property, white-collar defense, and entertainment matters across U.S. federal courts, with a 29-attorney bench of former senior government officials and Supreme Court advocates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Hourly Billing: Traditional law firm hourly billing for complex litigation matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes business disputes, ERISA litigation, appellate advocacy, and intellectual property cases.
2. Legal Services - Alternative Fee Arrangements: Contingency fee arrangements in plaintiff-side ERISA and consumer protection cases where the firm advances costs and receives a percentage of recovery.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Stris & Maher LLP is a national litigation boutique representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex, high-stakes disputes. Its core practices include plaintiff-side ERISA and pension litigation, appellate advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuits, intellectual property litigation, entertainment/media/sports litigation, healthcare litigation, and white-collar criminal defense and investigations.

Product overview

Stris & Maher LLP is a national boutique litigation law firm offering legal services through a multi-practice platform. The firm's core offerings include ERISA Litigation (Band 1 nationwide), Appellate Litigation (Band 1 in California), and Intellectual Property Litigation (Band 4 in California), along with specialized practices in Entertainment/Media/Sports Litigation, Pension Litigation, Healthcare Litigation, and White-Collar Defense & Investigations. The firm handles complex, high-stakes legal disputes from trial courts through the U.S. Supreme Court, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts throughout the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ERISA Litigation Plaintiff-side ERISA litigation practice handling pension, retirement benefits, and employee welfare plan disputes, including class actions and appeals in federal courts. Targets employees, retirees, and plan participants.
• Appellate Litigation Appellate advocacy practice representing clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit courts, and state appellate courts, including constitutional and complex business disputes. Targets parties needing preservation of trial victories or facing complex appellate exposure.
• Intellectual Property Litigation IP litigation practice covering patent infringement, trademark, copyright, Lanham Act false advertising, and trade secret matters for technology and media clients. Targets technology companies, consumer brands, and entertainment companies.
• Entertainment, Media & Sports Litigation High-stakes litigation practice for Hollywood studios, agencies, production companies, talent, and media organizations handling consequential entertainment disputes. Targets entertainment, media, and sports industry clients.
• Pension Litigation Leading plaintiff-side pension litigation practice handling cases involving actuarial equivalence, fiduciary breaches, and retirement benefit plan disputes. Targets pension plan participants.
• Healthcare Litigation Healthcare and ERISA welfare benefits litigation including claims under the Affordable Care Act and healthcare provider disputes. Targets plan participants, healthcare providers, and welfare benefit claimants.
• White-Collar Defense & Investigations Criminal defense practice handling white-collar fraud, national security matters, public corruption cases, and sensitive government investigations. Targets individuals and corporations facing federal criminal investigations and white-collar enforcement actions.

Quantifiable outcome

• $186 million settlement for Rhodium Enterprises in bitcoin mining dispute
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Williams & Connolly: Washington D.C. trial boutique renowned for high-stakes commercial and appellate litigation, with overlapping capabilities in constitutional, Supreme Court, and complex commercial matters.
• Susman Godfrey: Premier U.S. trial boutique with a comparable partner-led model and a reputation for high-stakes commercial and IP trials, often serving as co-counsel or opposing counsel to elite boutiques like Stris & Maher.
• Boies Schiller Flexner: Elite litigation boutique known for high-profile, bet-the-company matters and a roster of star litigators, with overlapping plaintiff-side, appellate, and white-collar capabilities.
• Keker Van Nest & Peters: San Francisco-based trial boutique specializing in complex commercial, IP, and white-collar litigation with a similar partner-driven, courtroom-tested identity and premium-boutique economics.
• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan: The largest litigation-only firm globally with a courtroom-first orientation that mirrors Stris & Maher's; competes directly for high-stakes commercial, appellate, and IP matters across U.S. federal courts.
• Bartlit Beck Herman Palter: Chicago-based elite trial boutique with a comparable high-stakes commercial litigation practice and a similar premium-boutique economics model focused on a small number of consequential matters.
• Munger Tolles & Olson: California-based elite firm with a premier appellate and complex litigation practice and a comparable selective-case philosophy that prioritizes quality over volume.

Broad incumbents

• Latham & Watkins: Global elite firm with a deep litigation bench and overlapping appellate, ERISA, and IP practices; competes from a much larger capacity base for the largest matters while serving many of the same enterprise clients.
• Covington & Burling: Major Washington D.C. firm with strong appellate, white-collar, and investigations practices that overlap with Stris & Maher's offerings, especially for government-facing and regulatory matters.
• Gibson Dunn: Global elite firm with deep appellate, ERISA, IP, and white-collar practices that compete for similar matters while offering broader transactional and regulatory capabilities Stris & Maher does not.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/strismaher
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stris-&-maher-llp
• Xx.com/StrisMaher

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stris & Maher