On July 14, the American Lawyer named Beth Wilkinson its “Litigator of the Week,” and described Wilkinson Stekloff as “the legal equivalent of an elite special ops unit,” for leading Microsoft’s successful defense of its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
This intensely competitive recognition highlights the entire Wilkinson Stekloff team — including, in addition to Beth, Rakesh Kilaru, Kieran Gostin, Grace Hill, Anastasia Pastan, and Sarah Neuman — for its representation of Microsoft in a five-day evidentiary hearing in late June related to the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block Microsoft’s largest-ever acquisition. On July 10, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the Northern District of California denied the FTC’s bid for an injunction to block the deal, finding the agency hadn’t proven that Microsoft was likely to pull the game “Call of Duty” from Sony’s PlayStation “or that its ownership of Activision content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets.”
In an interview with the American Lawyer’s Ross Todd, Beth outlined what is at stake for Microsoft specifically, and elucidated larger legal questions around the federal government’s current approach to antitrust regulation.
Beyond achieving its central goal of a win on behalf of its client, the Wilkinson Stekloff team was also acknowledged by the judge for its excellence in the courtroom. “Judge Corley went out of her way to compliment both sides for the advocacy she had witnessed,” Beth explained, “noting how many attorneys had examined witnesses, and told our clients how it had benefited their cause. Those comments spoke to me about the skill, diversity, and depth of talent at our firm and told me that we have built something special since we opened in 2016.”
Wilkinson Stekloff is the leading trial litigation boutique in the country, demonstrating a depth of talent and dexterity of skill unmatched by firms of any size. Across several areas of law, including antitrust, products liability, and complex commercial litigation, Wilkinson Stekloff has delivered exceptional results and is poised to continue leading the way in some of today’s most contentious disputes.