[1] Vladas Stašinskas was born on 10 October 1874 in Dameliai [lt] to a Lithuanian family that rented land from the owners of the Žagarė Manor.

As a high school student, Stašinskas belonged to Kūdikis Society [lt], a secret Lithuanian student organization, and a group of activists that organized amateur performances of Lithuanian plays in Palanga, Libau (Liepāja), Mitau (Jelgava).

As an attorney, Stašinskas quickly built a good reputation and took on some political cases, including those of Lithuanian communists Vincas Kapsukas and Zigmas Angarietis,[2] and future general Vladas Nagevičius.

[3] In December 1905, Stašinskas participated in the Great Seimas of Vilnius and supported positions of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.

During the Duma sessions, Stašinskas debated on the issues of education, land reform, Tsarist repressions in Lithuania.

In fall 1915, he was a member of a multi-ethnic Citizens' Committee that interacted with the occupying German forces on behalf of the residents of Vilnius.

[7] In April 1918, a group of jurists, including Stašinskas and Augustinas Janulaitis, agreed to assist the Council of Lithuania.

[2] Initially, Stašinskas and Petras Leonas refused to join the government protesting inclusion of the Catholic priest Juozas Purickis because he had to obey his ecclesiastical superiors.

Together with other prominent Lithuanians, including Mečislovas Reinys, Liudas Gira, Antanas Tumėnas, he remained in Soviet custody in Vilnius, Daugavpils, and Smolensk until a prisoner exchange on 23 July 1919.

[4] After the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, his landholdings of 195 hectares (480 acres) near Kėdainiai were confiscated and his pension was stopped.

A special commission of the Lithuanian Bar Association visited him in 1942 and found him in deplorable conditions, forced to sell personal belongings to make a living.