Alinor Sterling

Alinor works on complex cases, both in the trial court and on appeal. She is tireless in her efforts to expand and develop the law so that an injured client will recover. Often her cases involve actions against multiple corporate defendants on behalf of an injured individual or family. She has represented clients injured by defective products, as well as by the carelessness of corporations and individuals. She has worked on behalf of clients injured on vacation and while traveling overseas, cases that are often made difficult by the fact that the client was injured far from home.

Alinor has two recent wins in the Connecticut appellate court, Wisniewski v. Town of Darien, 135 Conn. App. 364 (2012) and Rosa v. Lawrence & Memorial Hosp., 145 Conn. App. (2013). The Wisniewski case was brought on behalf of a Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder client who was crushed when a tree fell on his car. Alinor successfully defended the $1.2 million verdict obtained by Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder lawyer Craig Smith on appeal. The Rosa case was brought on behalf of a Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder client who was put in a coma due to the medical negligence of an anesthesiologist and his nurse. Alinor successfully defended the $10 million verdict obtained by Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder’s Sean McElligott on appeal.

Prior to joining Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, Alinor worked on personal injury and business cases for nearly ten years with a small firm in New Haven and then in solo practice. She has argued a number of matters to Connecticut's appellate courts. The resulting decisions include Erickson v. Erickson, 246 Conn. 359 (1998), which altered the law concerning the admissibility of extrinsic evidence in a will contest, and Rioux v. Barry, 283 Conn. 338 (2007), which preserves the scope of the tort of vexatious litigation against a claim of quasi-judicial immunity.

Alinor received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1989 with a major in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a minor in Russian Studies. She then spent a year pursuing a course of study and research in Moscow, Russia through a graduate fellowship. Returning to the United States, she attended the UCLA School of Law where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. While in law school, Alinor was an editor of the UCLA Law Review and the UCLA Women's Law Journal. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Lourdes G. Baird of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Alinor is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She is a member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA), the CTLA Women's Caucus, and co-chairs the CTLA Rules Committee. She is also a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and sits on the CBA Appellate Advocacy Committee. Alinor has lectured for CBA, CTLA and New Haven County Bar Association on the civil rules governing expert witnesses and on appellate practice