Stoll Berne

What Stoll Berne does

Stoll Berne is a Portland, Oregon-based plaintiff-side litigation boutique operating as a professional corporation (Stoll Berne PC). Founded circa 1980 by Robert Stoll and Gary Berne alongside David Lokting and Rob Shlachter, the firm concentrates its practice rather than operating as a full-service shop, with 18 listed attorneys across roughly two dozen practice areas. Its core work centers on class actions, securities and investor fraud litigation, environmental contamination (PCB, PFAS), wildfire liability (most prominently PacifiCorp Labor Day 2020 fires), antitrust, intellectual property, business and real estate disputes, and appellate advocacy. Marquee representations include Court-appointed Lead Counsel on James v. PacifiCorp (~$220 million in verdicts covering approximately 5,000 class members), Special Assistant Attorney General to the Oregon AG in State of Oregon v. Monsanto ($698 million PCB settlement), and outside counsel for the City of Seattle in a parallel Monsanto matter ($160 million settlement). The firm's co-lead and consolidated-counsel posture on national cases -- alongside firms such as Keller Rohrback, Edelson PC, and Sher Edling -- functions as its distribution mechanism for plaintiffs outside Oregon.

The firm's revenue model mixes contingency fees (for class actions and complex plaintiff matters where the firm earns a percentage of recovery) and traditional hourly billing (for business litigation, real estate transactions, and select matters). Pricing is not publicly disclosed; engagements are established through initial consultations and retainer agreements, with contingency percentages negotiated individually per matter. The firm's litigation technology stack is anchored by the Relativity e-discovery platform, with secure local hosting of client data and a dedicated information systems / litigation support team (including a Certified Relativity User and a Director of Paralegals & Practice Support). Back-office functions are lean, with a Director of Administration (SHRM-CP) and a Marketing & Operations Coordinator. There are no products, apps, APIs, AI/ML capabilities, patents, or external funding rounds disclosed; the firm is a private partnership operating from a single headquarters at 209 SW Oak Street, Suite 500, Portland. Customer acquisition is driven primarily by referrals from satisfied clients and peers in the legal community, supplemented by content marketing (Class Actions Blog, Investor Blog), legal publication articles, CLE presentations, and earned media coverage of high-profile verdicts. Stoll Berne's investor-side and public-entity caseload -- representing institutional and individual plaintiffs, government entities (State of Oregon, City of Seattle), and class members -- provides a diversified client base where each engagement is a discrete, contingency- or hourly-fee matter rather than a recurring SaaS-style contract.

Name

Stoll Berne

Legal name

Stoll Berne

Website

https://stollberne.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stoll Berne is a Portland-based plaintiff-side litigation boutique with roughly 18 attorneys handling class actions, securities and investor fraud, environmental contamination (PCB, PFAS), wildfire, business, IP, and real estate matters on contingency and hourly fees for individuals, investors, and government entities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAHALAG)

Keywords

• Class action litigation
• Securities fraud litigation
• Business litigation
• Intellectual property law
• Environmental litigation

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Contingency Fees: The firm represents clients in class action and complex litigation matters, typically on a contingency fee basis where attorneys receive a percentage of any recovery obtained for clients.
2. Legal Services - Hourly Billing: Traditional hourly billing for certain litigation matters, business organizations, and real estate transactions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Stoll Berne is a litigation-focused law firm providing plaintiff-side and defense legal representation through 18 practice areas, primarily class actions, securities and investor fraud litigation, business litigation, intellectual property disputes, real estate transactions and disputes, and complex environmental matters including PCB contamination, PFAS, and wildfire cases. The firm delivers services through contingency fee arrangements for class action and complex plaintiff work and hourly billing for transactional, business litigation, and real estate matters, enabled by an in-house Relativity e-discovery and litigation support practice.

Product overview

Stoll Berne is a litigation-focused law firm offering comprehensive legal services through 18 distinct practice areas. The firm specializes in plaintiff-side litigation including class actions, securities/investor fraud cases, business litigation, intellectual property disputes, real estate matters, and environmental litigation (including wildfire and contamination cases). The firm is not a full-service law firm but focuses on specific practice areas where it has achieved national recognition, particularly in class actions, securities litigation, and complex environmental cases involving PCB and wildfire claims. The core offerings include litigation services, trial representation, and appellate advocacy across these specialized practice areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Class Actions Litigation Plaintiff-side class action representation for individuals and classes seeking recovery from corporate misconduct; firm self-described as Oregon's leading Class Actions firm with nationally recognized results including multi-hundred-million-dollar settlements and verdicts.
• Securities Litigation Legal representation for investors in securities fraud cases; firm self-described as representing more investors in securities and financial advisor fraud than any other Oregon firm, with recoveries including the GPB Capital Holdings $46 million settlement and PDGI Securities Litigation.
• Securities Compliance & Defense Securities compliance advisory and defense services for financial institutions and individuals facing regulatory inquiries and enforcement.
• Investor Lawsuits and Arbitrations Legal representation for investors in lawsuits and FINRA arbitration proceedings related to investment disputes and broker misconduct.
• Business Litigation Full-spectrum business dispute resolution from everyday contract disputes to bet-the-company litigation, with strategic solutions for businesses facing complex commercial conflicts.
• Business Organizations & Transactions Legal services for business formation, organization, and transactional matters including LLCs and partnerships.
• Real Estate Legal Services Representation for real estate developers, investors, and financial institutions in a wide variety of real estate transactions and related matters; recognized in Chambers USA for Real Estate.
• Intellectual Property Litigation Legal representation in trade secret, trademark, copyright, false advertising, unfair competition, defamation, and other IP-related matters.
• Antitrust Litigation Antitrust litigation services representing parties in competition-related disputes.
• Appellate Practice Appellate legal services for clients seeking review in higher courts.
• Elections & Government Law Legal services related to elections law and government regulatory matters.
• Employment Law Employment litigation and legal services for both employers and individuals.
• Environmental Litigation Environmental litigation services including cases involving PCB contamination, wildfire damage, and PFAS contamination; includes court-appointed Lead Counsel and Special Assistant Attorney General roles in major environmental matters.
• Healthcare Litigation Healthcare-related litigation services for providers and patients.
• Internal Investigations Corporate internal investigation services to investigate potential misconduct.
• Lawyer, Accountant & Professional Malpractice Professional malpractice litigation against lawyers, accountants, and other professionals.
• Trust & Estate Litigation Litigation services for trust disputes and estate matters.
• Wildfire Litigation Wildfire-related litigation representing victims against utilities and other responsible parties, including court-appointed Lead Counsel role in PacifiCorp class actions with $220M+ verdicts.

Quantifiable outcome

• $698 million settlement for State of Oregon in Monsanto PCB case
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• City of SeattlecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 July 2024Stoll Berne served as outside counsel for the City of Seattle in v. Monsanto case, achieving $160 million settlement for PCB contamination of Lower Duwamish Waterway.
• Johnson Johnson Lucas & Middleton, PCminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 June 2023Assisted co-counsel in representing plaintiffs in the James v. PacifiCorp class action trial.
• Sher Edling LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 May 2023Co-counsel representing State of Oregon in PFAS contamination lawsuit alongside Stoll Berne as Special Assistant Attorney General.
• Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLPminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 May 2023Co-counsel representing State of Oregon in PFAS contamination lawsuit.
• Kelley Drye & Warren LLPminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 May 2023Co-counsel representing State of Oregon in PFAS contamination lawsuit.
• Oregon Department of JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 December 2022Stoll Berne served as Special Assistant Attorney General to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum in State of Oregon v Monsanto PCB contamination case resulting in $698 million settlement.
• Grant and EisenhoferminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 March 2022Co-counsel with Stoll Berne attorney Keith Dubanevich in Portland General Electric shareholder class action settlement.
• Keller Rohrback LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 September 2020Co-lead counsel with Stoll Berne in the PacifiCorp Labor Day 2020 Fires class action representing approximately 5,000 wildfire victims. Also co-counsel in State of Oregon v Monsanto ($698M settlement) and City of Seattle v Monsanto ($160M settlement). Partnership involves joint litigation efforts on environmental and class action matters.
• Edelson PCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 September 2020Co-lead counsel in the PacifiCorp Labor Day 2020 Fires class action litigation, working alongside Stoll Berne as Court-appointed Lead Counsel representing wildfire victims.
• RelativitycoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership for e-discovery and litigation support. Stoll Berne locally hosts client data in their own secure environment using Relativity platform.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: National plaintiff-side securities and corporate governance boutique; competes for lead-plaintiff counsel appointments in securities class actions overlapping with Stoll Berne's investor fraud docket.
• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP: National plaintiff-side class-action and mass-tort boutique with a securities, antitrust, and environmental practice; competes for the same court-appointed lead-counsel slots as Stoll Berne on large class actions.
• Keller Rohrback L.L.P. Keller Rohrback is a complex litigation boutique with a national class-action, securities, and environmental practice; it is co-lead counsel with Stoll Berne in the PacifiCorp wildfires class action and the Monsanto PCB contamination cases, making it the most direct peer in plaintiff-side mass-tort and class-action work.
• Milberg LLP: Long-standing plaintiff securities and class-action firm with a heritage mass-tort practice; competes for class representative roles and lead-counsel slots in similar securities and consumer class actions.
• Grant & Eisenhofer P.C. Securities and shareholder litigation boutique that has been co-counsel with Stoll Berne (Portland General Electric shareholder settlement); direct competitor in plaintiff securities work.
• Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP: Largest U.S. securities class-action firm with a strong securities fraud and shareholder litigation franchise; competes for the same plaintiff-side securities and shareholder class-action matters Stoll Berne handles in Oregon.
• Sher Edling LLP: Sher Edling is a public-nuisance environmental mass-tort firm that is co-counsel with Stoll Berne in the State of Oregon PFAS matter; identical positioning in public-entity environmental litigation makes them a tight operational peer.
• Edelson PC: Edelson PC is a plaintiff-side class-action and mass-tort firm—co-lead counsel with Stoll Berne on the PacifiCorp Labor Day Fires class action—sharing the same courtroom-driven, contingency-fee model for tech, privacy, and consumer class actions.
• Motley Rice LLC: National plaintiff-side asbestos and environmental mass-tort firm; comparable in using contingency-fee plaintiff litigation against major corporate defendants, particularly for environmental harms.

Broad incumbents

• Susman Godfrey LLP: Plaintiff-side commercial litigation powerhouse (Bet-the-Company litigation) with broader scale and a national footprint; comparable in bet-the-company commercial and securities trial capability but more diversified than Stoll Berne's boutique practice.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/stollberne
• Facebookfacebook.com/stollberne1

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 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 Stoll Berne