$8.4M
Jury verdict — commercial trucking collision on I-15, tried to verdict in the Fourth Judicial District Court.
Est. 2009 · Fourth Judicial District, Provo
Sterling & Vance is a Utah trial firm built for the courtroom, not the conference room. For fifteen years we have tried personal injury, business, and estate matters before Utah County juries — and we prepare every case as if it will be the one they hear next.
The Record
$0
Recovered for clients since 2009
0
Favorable verdicts & settlements
0
Cases tried or resolved in Utah courts
0
Years of combined trial experience
$8.4M
Jury verdict — commercial trucking collision on I-15, tried to verdict in the Fourth Judicial District Court.
$5.1M
Settlement — breach of fiduciary duty by a managing partner of a Utah County development company.
$3.75M
Arbitration award — construction defect claims for 42 Provo homeowners against a regional builder.
Representative matters. Every case is different; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Practice Areas
From a catastrophic injury on University Avenue to a partnership dispute headed for the Utah Court of Appeals, we take the cases where the stakes justify a true trial lawyer.
Catastrophic collisions, premises liability, and wrongful death — litigated under Utah's comparative fault rules, with life-care planners and accident reconstructionists retained early, not eventually.
Discuss your injury claimPartnership and shareholder disputes, non-compete enforcement, and contract actions — managed on a discovery plan built around Rule 26 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure from day one.
Protect your companyWills, revocable trusts, and succession plans for Utah families and family businesses — plus probate and trust litigation when an estate becomes a battlefield instead of a legacy.
Plan your estateFelony and white-collar defense in state and federal court. We move early — preliminary hearings, suppression motions, and negotiation from a posture of trial readiness.
Defend your recordDivorce, custody, and complex marital estates handled with discretion — firm in the courtroom, measured everywhere else, because your children will remember how this was done.
Speak privatelyBriefing and oral argument before the Utah Court of Appeals, the Utah Supreme Court, and the Tenth Circuit — preserving the record below and sharpening the issues above.
Evaluate your appealOur Approach
Your first meeting is with a partner — not an intake service. We hear the whole story, review every document you bring, and tell you plainly whether you have a case worth pursuing.
Investigators, subpoenas, depositions, experts. We build the evidentiary record with a jury in mind, because opposing counsel can tell the difference — and so can their carriers.
Most cases settle. Ours settle better, because the other side knows we will pick a jury. If a fair number never comes, we are already prepared for opening statements.
“A settlement offer is only as strong as the trial the other side believes you can win.”
— Eleanor Sterling, Founding Partner
The Partners
Founding Partner · Personal Injury & Wrongful Death
Former Utah County prosecutor with more than sixty jury trials to verdict. Eleanor built the firm on a single conviction: injured Utahns deserve the same trial talent insurers hire.
Founding Partner · Business Litigation & Appeals
Marcus spent a decade defending Fortune 500 companies before crossing the aisle. He now dismantles the playbooks he once wrote — and has argued twice before the Utah Supreme Court.
Partner · Estate Planning & Trust Litigation
Grace counsels Utah families through the plans that keep them out of court — and represents them fiercely when a trustee or executor forgets who the estate belongs to.
In Their Words
After the accident, three firms told us to take the insurer's first offer. Eleanor told us to be patient. Fourteen months later a Provo jury gave our family eleven times that number.
My partner tried to force me out of the company I co-founded. Marcus walked into the temporary restraining order hearing more prepared than anyone in the room, including the judge's clerk.
Grace rebuilt our family trust after Dad passed and a sibling contested everything. She was gracious at the dinner table and granite in the courtroom. Both mattered.
They returned every call within a day. For two years. If you have ever hired a lawyer before, you know that is the rarest result of all.
Questions, Answered Plainly
Nothing. Your initial consultation is free and confidential, whether or not we take the case. Injury matters are handled on contingency — we are paid only from what we recover for you. Business, estate, and defense matters are quoted with a written fee agreement before any work begins.
Honestly: it depends on the court's calendar and the other side's appetite. Many injury claims resolve within nine to eighteen months; a case tried in the Fourth Judicial District Court may take longer. What we promise is a written case plan at the outset and a candid update at every stage — never silence.
Yes, and it is unforgiving. Most Utah personal injury claims must be filed within four years, but claims against government entities can require notice in as little as one year, and other actions carry shorter periods. Evidence also fades far faster than any statute. Call promptly — even if only to learn your dates.
Statistically, probably not — most cases settle. But the decision will always be yours, made with full information. Our job is to make sure that when settlement is discussed, the number on the table reflects what a jury would do, not what an adjuster hopes you will accept.
A partner leads every engagement from the first meeting to the final order. We are deliberately small — three partners, a seasoned litigation team, and no case volume we cannot personally supervise. You will know your lawyer's name, and your lawyer will know yours.
Confidential · No Obligation
Tell us what happened. A partner — not a call center — will review your matter and respond within one business day.
Thank you. Your inquiry has been received in confidence.
A partner will be in touch within one business day.