North Star Law Group, LLC

Focus and practice areas

North Star Law Group, LLC is a civil litigation firm based in Anchorage, Alaska. It works with individuals, homeowners, business owners, and corporations. The firm describes itself as a full-service Alaska practice, and the published work covers a wide span of civil matters.

The listed practice areas are business litigation, family law, real estate, probate litigation, landlord and tenant evictions, and collections. In real estate, the firm handles non-judicial foreclosures, land use, and property disputes. It represents both commercial and residential landlords, from lease drafting through to evictions.

That range tells you something about how the office is set up. In my opinion, a practice that pairs business disputes with family law and property work is built to serve clients who need one firm for several kinds of problems. The family law side has a clear focus, which I cover below.

How the team is built

The firm names three partners and four associates on its About page. Each attorney lists a law school and a route into practice, and several came to law after other careers. I will take the partners first.

The partners

Michael Rose is a lifelong resident of Anchorage. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage and his law degree from Seattle University School of Law. He keeps a civil litigation and trial practice, and has litigated in state and federal court in Alaska, including argument before the Alaska Supreme Court. The firm states he was part of a trial team that won a 51.3 million dollar result.

Brian Riekkola is a co-founder of the firm. He focuses on business and probate litigation, landlord representation, and municipal disputes. Before law, he worked in the gold mining and oil industries, which is not a common path into a litigation practice. He served on an arbitration team that secured a 9.6 million dollar award in a construction dispute, and has represented Alaskan companies and individuals at every level.

Adam Gulkis opened a solo practice in Alaska in 2013, then joined North Star Law Group in 2022. His work centers on divorce, child custody, and support for survivors of domestic violence. Before law he studied at Carnegie Mellon University and worked for close to a decade at Apple, Inc. He earned his law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law, where he competed in three national mock trial competitions.

The associates

Harrison Kerth moved to Anchorage in 2021 and joined the firm. He holds a Real Estate and Construction Management degree from the University of Denver and a Juris Doctor from the University of Montana. During law school he clerked over a summer for the City of Chicago, interned for Clayco, and worked with the Blackstone Launchpad at his law school helping small businesses.

Kevin F. Sullivan Jr. moved to Anchorage in the summer of 2022. He earned a Criminology and Criminal Justice degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University. In law school he clerked in the civil litigation group at Rudolph Friedman LLP and worked as a student attorney in Suffolk's juvenile defender's clinic.

Mario Bird was born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and earned his law degree at Ave Maria School of Law. He clerked and practiced with Anchorage attorneys Wayne Ross and Ed Miner before opening a solo practice. In 2022 he joined the Anchorage Municipal Attorney's office under Mayor Dave Bronson, and later served as the Mayor's Chief of Staff.

Family law, handled with a named lead

Family law can get lost inside a general civil practice. Here it has a defined owner. Adam Gulkis has worked on divorce and child custody since 2013, and works with survivors of domestic violence.

For a client facing a custody dispute or a divorce, that matters. In my opinion, knowing which attorney holds a practice area is more useful than a long list of services with no faces attached. The firm's structure makes that connection easy to find.

Courts and credentials

The firm's attorneys practice in state and federal courts in Alaska, including the Alaska Supreme Court. North Star Law Group states that it is licensed in Alaska and the Federal District of Alaska, and that it is registered with the USPTO. That USPTO registration points to patent or trademark work sitting alongside the civil litigation.

Two of the partners list stated courtroom outcomes: the 51.3 million dollar trial result tied to Michael Rose, and the 9.6 million dollar arbitration award tied to Brian Riekkola. I report those as the firm states them. They give a reader a sense of the scale of matter the team has worked on.

What the record shows

The picture here is of a mid-sized Anchorage firm with roots in the state. Several attorneys are from Alaska or moved there and stayed. Others arrived from careers in industry, technology, and municipal government, which gives the group a mix of backgrounds to draw on.

What I can confirm is limited to what the firm publishes: its people, their schools, their practice areas, and a small number of stated results. The site does not give a founding year, and the profile for associate Jessica Pa was incomplete when I reviewed it. As a reviewer, I would rather note those gaps than fill them.

For an Alaskan client weighing a business dispute, a property matter, a probate fight, or a family law case, North Star Law Group presents a team with named leads and a broad civil docket. That is a reasonable place to start a search. The published detail lets a client check the fit before making contact.