Wilkinson Stekloff is pleased to announce that 11 associates have joined the firm in our Washington, D.C. office—our second consecutive year welcoming a double-digit associate class. This class consists of highly accomplished attorneys who share a passion for trial work and a commitment to pro bono service. They bring a wealth of experience from clerkships across the country, including at the state, federal district, and federal appellate court levels, as well as distinguished academic achievements from the nation’s most prestigious law schools. “Developing the next generation of trial lawyers remains central to our mission,” said Founding Partner Beth Wilkinson. “I am thrilled to welcome another large and accomplished class who have demonstrated a strong interest in and enthusiasm for building their careers in the courtroom. We look forward to introducing them to our clients who will continue to benefit from our growing depth of skilled and dedicated attorneys.” Founding Partner …
Rakesh Kilaru Named Among Top 100 Trial Lawyers by Benchmark Litigation, Joining Founding Partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff
October 31, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff partner Rakesh Kilaru has been named for the first time to Benchmark Litigation’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers—a select group of attorneys venerated by clients and peers alike for their mastery in the courtroom. He joins Founding Partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff, both staples on the prestigious list, rivaling the representation of Big Law firms. Beth Wilkinson, one of the nation’s pre-eminent trial lawyers, continues to receive widespread acclaim for her unmatched ability to deliver when the stakes are highest. In recent years, she has led Microsoft, the NFL, and Altria to billion-dollar courtroom victories. She was recently set to serve as lead trial counsel to HPE in defending its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks against a federal court challenge from the DOJ, until the case resolved favorably for HPE on the doorstep of trial, allowing the deal to close. Beth is widely revered for her ability …
Benchmark Litigation Again Names Wilkinson Stekloff as a Top 20 Trial Law Firm, Recognizing Eight Partners
October 29, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff has been named a “Top 20 Trial Law Firm” for the fourth year in a row by Benchmark Litigation—one of the premier guides to leading law firms and legal practitioners—in their 2026 US edition. This elite distinction follows the firm winning “Trial Firm of the Year” in back-to-back years at Benchmark’s annual US Awards ceremony. The firm also earned a “Tier 1” ranking in Competition/Antitrust—its first appearance in the category—owing to a string of high-profile wins in bet-the-company antitrust matters. In recent years, Wilkinson Stekloff secured major victories for Microsoft in its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, winning the second-biggest merger trial in American history; for the NFL, by winning judgment as a matter of law on multibillion-dollar class-action claims challenging their Sunday Ticket subscription model; and for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, positioning the company to close its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks after a federal court …
Wilkinson Stekloff Partner Cali Arat Named to the Daily Journal’s 2025 “Top 40 Under 40”
October 22, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff partner Cali Arat has been named to the Daily Journal’s prestigious “Top 40 Under 40” list for 2025. This distinction honors California’s most accomplished young attorneys, and future leaders, across the legal profession. Cali has spent her first decade of practice at the center of some of the nation’s highest-stakes and most closely watched litigation. She has already served as counsel in seven jury trials—including two as lead—for major clients spanning the pharmaceutical, medical technology, and sports industries. In Clark v. Monsanto, Cali served as co-lead trial counsel for Bayer alongside Founding Partner Brian Stekloff, securing the first defense verdict in the Roundup litigation. She argued the general causation Daubert motion and examined multiple experts at trial, focusing the jury on the scientific evidence in order to deliver a complete defense win after only one day of deliberation. Cali later served as lead trial counsel in Frank v. …
Wilkinson Stekloff Associate Logan Page Featured in The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily for Expanding Firm’s Pro Bono Footprint with Innovative Appellate Practice
October 1, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff associate Logan Page was recently profiled by The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily for his leadership in developing a unique appellate practice that has broadened the firm’s pro bono impact and created significant opportunities for other associates. Drawing on his experience while clerking, Logan identified a recurring statutory issue in prisoner civil rights cases under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and has now built a practice around challenging trial court dismissals invoking the PLRA’s “three strikes” rule, which allows a judge to bar prisoners with three prior qualifying dismissals from proceeding in forma pauperis. “Seeing folks try to navigate that part of the court process is affecting,” said Page. “That’s a really clean statutory interpretation issue that stuck with me as I came back into practice.” With support from Pro Bono Chair Jeremy Barber, Logan now leads a growing team of associates who review, brief, and argue appeals …
Wilkinson Stekloff Secures Appellate Victory Protecting Access to Courts for Incarcerated Individuals
September 22, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff achieved another important pro bono victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, securing reversal of a district court’s dismissal of an incarcerated individual’s civil rights complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s (“PLRA”) three-strikes rule. The appeal was led by associates Logan Page and Daniel Cook. The case arose after a Georgia district court denied our client the ability to proceed in forma pauperis and dismissed his complaint for non-payment of the filing fee, concluding that four prior lawsuits constituted “strikes” under the PLRA. Through briefing, Logan and Daniel demonstrated that at least two of those dismissals could not be considered strikes. The Eleventh Circuit agreed, reversing the district court’s judgment and remanding for further proceedings. This result builds on Logan’s prior appellate success before the Sixth Circuit in 2024, where the court unanimously vacated a similar PLRA dismissal following his oral argument. Logan …
Beth Wilkinson Named to Forbes 2025 List of America’s Top Lawyers
September 15, 2025
Founding Partner Beth Wilkinson has been named to the Forbes 2025 list of America’s Top Lawyers, a prestigious recognition honoring the nation’s most accomplished attorneys in private practice. Forbes has also previously identified her among the Best-In-State Lawyers in Washington, D.C. for Antitrust. The Forbes list “is a roll call of high-caliber counsel, culled from a range of practice areas and specializations,” developed “through a rigorous, multi-stage process of researching, evaluating and rating thousands of candidates through nominations, direct outreach, recommendations and editorial review.” Nominees were evaluated not only based on their success, but on the complexity and significance of their work, and their influence on the legal profession as a whole. Beth’s recognition reflects her decades-long track record as one of the country’s preeminent trial lawyers, known for taking bet-the-company cases into the courtroom—and winning. Beth recently defended Hewlett Packard Enterprise in its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks against the …
Eleven Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Named among the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America
September 10, 2025
Eleven Wilkinson Stekloff partners have been recognized among the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America. This achievement marks the fourth consecutive year that the firm has placed at least nine partners in this prestigious guide—dating back to its inaugural release in 2022—underscoring the strength and depth of Wilkinson Stekloff’s litigation bench. Honorees from the firm’s Washington, DC and New York offices are recognized across a wide range of practice areas, including Trials, Antitrust, Product Liability, Mass Tort, Environmental, White Collar, Investigations, and Class Actions. This breadth of recognition reflects Wilkinson Stekloff’s generalist approach, allowing the firm to take on clients’ most complex and high-stakes disputes, regardless of the subject matter. The Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America is an annual guide acknowledging the nation’s most accomplished courtroom advocates, selected through a rigorous process of independent research, submissions, and vetting with both peers and adversaries. These outstanding attorneys distinguish themselves …
Wilkinson Stekloff Successfully Defends Denial of Qualified Immunity on Appeal on Behalf of Incarcerated Client
September 8, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff recently secured a victory before the Ninth Circuit in a pro bono matter where our client asserted due process violations related to his incarceration by the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC). The appellate court affirmed the denial of qualified immunity for prison officials, allowing our client’s claims to proceed. Associates Quinton Weinstein and Owen Gallogly represented our client on appeal, whose claims against the NDOC officials related to an internal disciplinary hearing, after which he was placed in solitary confinement and denied visitation rights for more than eight months. In March, Quinton argued before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit, explaining that prison officials deprived our client of basic constitutional protections during the proceeding by blocking him from questioning witnesses and withholding critical evidence, while his subsequent punishment established a protected liberty interest. The Ninth Circuit agreed, upholding the district court’s denial of summary judgment based on …
The National Law Journal Names Wilkinson Stekloff as Finalist for 2025 Winning Litigators, and Counsel Max Warren as a D.C. Rising Star
September 5, 2025
Founding Partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff are among the finalists for the National Law Journal’s 2025 “Winning Litigators – Defense” for their complete post-trial victory last year on behalf of the NFL. In addition, Counsel Max Warren was named a D.C. Rising Star, recognizing him as one of the region’s most promising lawyers under the age of 40. In August 2024, Beth and Brian scored a major victory for the NFL and its 32 member teams in their Sunday Ticket class action antitrust litigation, after facing over $20 billion in exposure. At trial in June, they led the NFL’s defense, delivering opening and closing statements, dismantling key expert testimony through cross-examination, and examining prominent witnesses including the NFL Commissioner and third-party executives. After a surprising adverse verdict, Brian argued the NFL’s post-trial motions, leading the court to exclude both of plaintiffs’ experts’ testimony under Daubert and grant the NFL’s …