In an interview with Vivia Chen, author of Bloomberg Law’s popular “Unfiltered” column, founding partner Beth Wilkinson shares her “insider view” of the sometimes fraught path of women in Big Law, and discusses what drove her to build a different kind of culture in Wilkinson Stekloff.
Beth explains how leaving behind the conventional Big Law structure — and, in particular, the billable-hour model — enabled Wilkinson Stekloff to focus exclusively on high-stakes trials, create a different model of success for top-tier legal talent, and train up the next generation of superstar trial lawyers. Gifted women lawyers in particular, Beth reflects, tend to thrive in a firm culture that gives them the freedom to do their best work alongside meaningful commitments in other aspects of their lives.
With the recent return of celebrated litigator Tamarra Matthews Johnson, Keri Arnold’s induction as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a continuously growing list of client wins and accolades earned by women and men across the firm, it’s clear that Beth’s vision of creating what Benchmark Litigation, in naming Wilkinson Stekloff Boutique Firm of the Year, called “a litigator’s dream shop” has come to fruition — and is just getting started.
Beth also discusses the trust she has built with longtime clients across industries, and why she loves being in the courtroom. Click here to read the full interview.