Wilkinson Stekloff has been shortlisted for Benchmark Litigation’s 2026 U.S. Awards, marking the firm’s third consecutive year as a finalist for Boutique Firm of the Year, D.C. Firm of the Year, and Trial Firm of the Year––an award the firm won in both 2024 and 2025.
Founding partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff are again shortlisted for “Trial Lawyer of the Year” and “Product Liability Litigator of the Year”, respectively, while Partner Rakesh Kilaru is a first-time finalist, for “Antitrust Litigator of the Year.” These nominations further add to the firm’s impressive Benchmark profile, which includes being named a “Top 20 Trial Firm” and “Top Boutique Firm”, ranked “Tier 1” in both Antitrust and Commercial litigation, and coming “Highly Recommended” in Washington, D.C. Rakesh also recently joined Beth and Brian among Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and seven Partners have earned Litigation Star status.
Benchmark’s recognition follows a string of marquee outcomes for the firm’s clients. Most recently, Rakesh Kilaru secured a major victory for the NCAA in December when the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Mario Chalmers, et al. v. NCAA, et al., a purported class action that sought decades of retroactive damages for former student-athletes based on the NCAA’s previous compensation rules. This ruling set a key precedent that led to the dismissal of four similar lawsuits claiming tens of millions in damages, filed by high-profile former student-athletes against the backdrop of the historic $2.8 billion NIL settlement negotiated by Rakesh for the NCAA, and given final approval by a federal judge in June 2025.
This past year, Beth led the team that positioned Hewlett Packard Enterprise to close its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, following the resolution of a DOJ challenge on the doorstep of trial. In 2024, the firm secured a complete defense victory for the NFL in its Sunday Ticket antitrust litigation, obtaining post-trial rulings that overturned a multibillion-dollar verdict and preserved the League’s successful media distribution model. Brian was also named Benchmark’s “Trial Lawyer of the Year” and “Product Liability Litigator of the Year” in 2023, owing to his victory for Bayer in Clark v. Monsanto, the first defense verdict in the pharmaceutical giant’s sprawling litigation surrounding the weedkiller Roundup, which also earned an “Impact Case of the Year” award.
This year’s winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in New York City on March 11, 2026.