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About Alinor Sterling

Alinor believes the law is a powerful weapon in the fight against injustice, and she has devoted her career to that fight. She represented nine families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in a landmark case against the Remington Arms Company, the manufacturer of the assault rifle used to carry out the attack. Her work led to the families' settlement of the case for every dollar of available coverage, $73 million, and the right to publicly share Remington's internal documents. The case has been compared to the first tobacco cases, in which documents were obtained that were later used to hold cigarette companies accountable for the public health crisis they had created.

Alinor also represents Sandy Hook families in a suit against e-commerce mogul and internet "newsman" Alex Jones for his false claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was a "hoax" and that it was staged by actors. In the fall of 2022, Koskoff lawyers Chris Mattei, Josh Koskoff, and Alinor tried this case, resulting in a judgment of roughly $1.5 billion in favor of the clients. Alinor's appellate wins include Soto v. Bushmaster, the landmark case in which the Connecticut Supreme Court allowed Sandy Hook families' case to proceed against Remington; Lafferty v. Jones, in which the Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed severe sanctions against Jones for abusive litigation conduct; Munn v. The Hotchkiss School, in which a $41.5 million damages verdict in favor of an injured student was affirmed; and Gagliano v. Danbury Hospital, confirming a $9.6 million verdict against the hospital based on its residents' negligence. Alinor formerly served President of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA).

She co-chairs CTLA's Rules and Amicus committees. She is a board member of Public Justice and is a board member of the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven. She serves on American Association for Justice's Legal Affairs and Amicus committees, as well as the Connecticut Bar Association's Appellate Advocacy Committee.

Proven verdicts and settlements

$73,000,000 settlement (aggregate: nine families of four children and five adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary; the sources do not itemise the individual shares)Settlement

On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old gunman used a Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle made by Remington to kill 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Nine of the victims' families sued Remington in 2014, arguing that its marketing of the AR-15-style rifle to young, violence-prone men was an unfair trade practice that fell outside the federal immunity gun makers enjoy. The Connecticut Supreme Court let that claim proceed in 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene, and after Remington went through bankruptcy twice its four insurers agreed on February 15, 2022 to pay the families the full $73 million available under five policies. Remington also had to release thousands of pages of internal marketing documents.

Connecticut Superior Court, Waterbury (complex litigation docket), with payment approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama · 2022Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
View all 12 proven verdicts →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law
Juris Doctor (J.D.)
Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School
Undergraduate, 1989

Other attorneys at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, P.C.

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$3 million · Road Crew Worker's $3 Million Recovery After Falling From Moving Trailer
Trantolo & Trantolo
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$2.9 million · $2.9 Million Settlement in Connecticut Wrongful Death Car Crash
Brandon J. Broderick, Personal Injury Attorney at Law
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$19 million (reduced on stipulation after appeal; $47.4 million gross verdict) · $47.4 Million Verdict for Law Student Left Brain-Damaged in Thruway Road-Rage Crash