Founding Partner Beth Wilkinson has been spotlighted in the debut issue of Bloomberg Law’s “Unrivaled” as one of 32 exceptional trial lawyers who are setting the standard for high-stakes litigation. The recipients of this prestigious award were determined through a rigorous review by Bloomberg Law’s editors and litigation analysts, identifying individuals with a demonstrated history of litigation excellence and multiple major trial wins or significant positive settlements in recent years.
“Bloomberg Law is proud to honor top litigators with our inaugural issue of Unrivaled,” said Lisa Helem, executive editor, Bloomberg Industry Group. “This debut class of honorees exemplifies not only excellence in their field but also leadership in their firms and practices.”
Beth has long been at the forefront of the profession, having served as lead counsel in over 50 jury trials, including numerous bet-the-company, multibillion-dollar cases. She has developed an unparalleled record of victories in federal and state courts throughout the country, as well as achieved positive results before administrative law judges and during the investigative phase for multiple significant recent mergers acquisitions.
In 2024, Beth secured a major defense victory for the NFL against class-action Sherman Act claims surrounding its Sunday Ticket package, with potential $21 billion exposure. Beth delivered opening and closing statements, handled prominent NFL witnesses, and cross-examined a key expert witness. A concerted post-trial briefing effort resulted in the court granting the NFL’s motion for judgment as a matter of law—a complete victory under rare circumstances.
In January 2022, Microsoft engaged Beth the day after announcing its $68.7 billion acquisition of videogame-maker Activision, to lead its defense against an FTC challenge. Despite proceeding on an unprecedented timetable, Wilkinson Stekloff won the second-largest merger trial in American history in June 2023, defeating the FTC’s preliminary injunction and subsequent stay requests, shortly after which the deal closed. The Ninth Circuit recently unanimously affirmed the district court’s decision, and the FTC dismissed its administrative complaint entirely.
Beth previously served as lead counsel for Altria in an administrative trial before the FTC, who sought divestiture of Altria’s $12.8 billion investment in Juul Labs. The Commission’s own administrative law judge dismissed the FTC’s claims in their entirety in February 2022. In federal court litigation over product liability claims relating Altria’s investment in Juul, Beth served as lead trial counsel in the first bellwether trial that began in April 2023. Just one day after the Plaintiff rested its case, a favorable $235 million global resolution was reached that ended over 6,000 related cases—a fraction of the amount paid by defendants that settled pre-trial.
Beth has also delivered significant results outside the courtroom with her strategic, trial-minded approach at the prelitigation phase. In recent years she has played crucial roles on confidential merger matters for global market-leading corporations across multiple industries, crafting successful defense approaches on acquisitions worth over $100 billion combined, all closing without government challenge.
This is the latest recognition among a distinguished list of accolades for Beth. Chambers and Partners has repeatedly awarded her their coveted “Star Individual” title across multiple practice areas, Legal 500 has named her a “Leading Trial Lawyer”, and Benchmark Litigation included her in their “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” and elite group of “Top 10 Women in Litigation.” She was recently named to Global Competition Review’s 2025 Women in Antitrust and has taken home numerous annual trial and litigation awards from The American Lawyer, Law360, and National Law Journal among many others.