Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Rakesh Kilaru and Kieran Gostin Named to Benchmark Litigation “40 & Under Hot List”

WASHINGTON – Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Rakesh Kilaru and Kieran Gostin were named to the 2020 Benchmark Litigation “40 & Under Hot List.” Benchmark recognized them as leading and notable up-and-coming litigation partners in the United States. This marks the third consecutive year Rakesh has been recognized by Benchmark. Founding Partner Beth Wilkinson said, “Rakesh and Kieran continue to demonstrate what it means to be stellar attorneys and exemplary role models. I am proud to see their hard work and dedication to achieving the greatest result for their clients in the courtroom being honored and recognized. We are thrilled to have them as part of our team and look forward to their future accomplishments.” Benchmark recognized Rakesh for his involvement in a “wide range of antitrust, sports, product liability, commercial, class action, and appellate litigation,” including high-profile antitrust cases for the national Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Football League …

Wilkinson Stekloff Celebrates Another Outstanding Year of High Stakes Trials and Accolades for the Next Generation of Trial Lawyers

WASHINGTON –Wilkinson Stekloff enters its fifth year having cemented its status as the premier trial litigation boutique in the country. 2019 featured three high-stakes, high-pressure trials, in which different partners served as lead trial counsel and eight partners in total had stand-up roles. The firm continued to receive accolades for its successes in delivering results to its clients while deepening its diverse bench of go-to litigators.

American Healthcare Leader: “Wilkinson Stekloff Help Bayer Stand Its Ground”

WASHINGTON — After the Wilkinson Stekloff team won a decisive trial victory for Bayer in a $600 million certified consumer class action lawsuit brought on behalf of One A Day multivitamin consumers, American Healthcare Leader’s (AHL) Sara Deeter highlighted how Walsh and Eskovitz’s “confidence and strategy” helped Bayer win a “resounding victory” in such a “high stakes” case. Without calling any witnesses in the defense case, the Wilkinson Stekloff team — led by Sean Eskovitz, Alex Walsh, James Rosenthal, and Kieran Gostin — relied on devastating cross-examinations of plaintiffs’ expert and fact witnesses, which were “pivotal” and “yielded further important insights.” The cross-examinations were so effective that it only took the jury one hour to reject plaintiffs’ claims that Bayer had misrepresented the health benefits of One A Day multivitamins.  The feature acknowledged one of Wilkinson Stekloff’s key strategies to engaging with the jury in a case that centered on …

Wilkinson Stekloff Again Named “Boutique Firm of the Year” by Benchmark

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Benchmark Litigation again named Wilkinson Stekloff the “Boutique Firm of the Year” during its annual awards ceremony in New York City — the second time in three years that Wilkinson Stekloff has received the recognition. This prestigious award recognizes Wilkinson Stekloff’s high-profile trial wins over the last year, including a defense verdict for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in McNair v. NCAA and multiple state-court bellwether trial victories for Bayer in trials involving the blood-thinner Xarelto. Wilkinson Stekloff also achieved several other pre- and post-trial victories in 2018, including judgment granted as a matter of law to Wilkinson Stekloff’s clients Oculus and Facebook on plaintiffs’ false designation claim in Zenimax Media et al. v. Oculus VR and complete dismissal, before any discovery, of a securities fraud class action case in In re MAXIMUS, Inc. Securities Litig. “We are deeply appreciative of Benchmark’s recognition of our firm for …

Litigation Daily: “Killer Crosses: How Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Shredded Witnesses in $600M Save for Bayer”

After the Wilkinson Stekloff team, led by Sean Eskovitz, Alex Walsh, James Rosenthal, and Kieran Gostin, won a decisive victory for Bayer in a $600 million certified consumer class action lawsuit brought on behalf of One A Day multivitamin consumers, Litigation Daily‘s Jenna Greene wrote about how Eskovitz and Walsh were “so good” at the cross-examinations that “the Wilkinson Stekloff team called no defense witnesses. They annihilated the case on crosses alone”: If cross-examination is an art form, then Wilkinson Stekloff name partners Alexandra Walsh and Sean Eskovitz (pictured above) are masters. The duo led a trial team defending Bayer AG, which faced a $600 million certified consumer class action over its One A Day multivitamin. The plaintiffs alleged Bayer made false and misleading claims that One A Day supported heart health, immunity and physical energy. How good were the cross-examinations? So good that that the Wilkinson Stekloff team called no defense witnesses. They annihilated the case on …

Wilkinson Stekloff Secures Another Trial Victory for Bayer in Xarelto Trial

Alexandra Walsh, co-founding partner of Wilkinson, Walsh + Eskovitz, Tamarra Matthews Johnson, and Rakesh Kilaru led the defense team to another victory. WASHINGTON – The Wilkinson Stekloff trial team, led by Founding Partner Alexandra Walsh and partners Tamarra Matthews Johnson and Rakesh Kilaru, won the third state-court bellwether trial over the blood- thinner Xarelto in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. This is the third win for Bayer in state court, and the sixth win overall, in the Xarelto litigation. The Plaintiff, Kevin Cooney, alleged that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals were liable for claims that the Xarelto label did not adequately warn or instruct doctors on the risks of bleeding associated with the anticoagulant medicine Xarelto. Walsh and Johnson served as lead trial counsel for Bayer, and Kilaru helped direct the legal strategy. A 12-member jury in Philadelphia returned a defense verdict after less than three …

Wilkinson Stekloff Wins Another Decisive Victory for Bayer in Xarelto Trial

Wilkinson Stekloff’s Brian Stekloff Led the Team to Its Fourth Xarelto Win Washington, D.C. – Wilkinson Stekloff, led by Founding Partner Brian Stekloff, won the second state-court bellwether trial over the blood-thinner Xarelto when the jury rejected claims against Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Lori Alvino McGill and Jeremy Barber also served as counsel for Bayer in the trial. The plaintiff in the Russell case alleged that Bayer and Janssen were liable for claims that the Xarelto label did not adequately instruct doctors on the risks of bleeding associated with the anticoagulant Xarelto. According to Law360, the Philadelphia jury “rejected claims that warnings labels for the … drug left out key information about the increased risk the drug posed when combined with antiplatelet medications.” Previously, Wilkinson Stekloff secured two full defense verdicts for Bayer in similar cases in the federal multi-district litigation in …

Experienced Defense Attorney Kieran Gostin Promoted To Wilkinson Stekloff Counsel

WASHINGTON – Wilkinson Stekloff today announced that Kieran Gostin has been promoted to Counsel effective January 1, 2018. Since joining Wilkinson Stekloff as an associate, Kieran has used his breadth of experience representing government and corporate clients to secure major victories for Wilkinson Stekloff’s clients. Kieran most recently helped Bayer win the first state-court bellwether trial over the blood-thinner Xarelto; the trial court entered judgment for Bayer and Janssen notwithstanding a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff.  He also played a significant role in helping Bayer obtain victories in the first two federal MDL trials relating to Xarelto, with both juries returning complete defense verdicts in under two hours. Kieran’s promotion is a testament to the considerable talent Wilkinson Stekloff has amassed in under two years and the ongoing expansion of the firm.  Since its inception, Wilkinson Stekloff has grown to nearly 40 lawyers and has quickly established itself …

Wilkinson Stekloff Wins Victory for Bayer in First State-Court Xarelto Trial

WASHINGTON – On January 9, 2018, Wilkinson Stekloff, led by Founding Partners Beth Wilkinson and Alexandra Walsh, won the first state-court bellwether trial over the blood-thinner Xarelto when the trial court entered judgment for Bayer and Janssen notwithstanding a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff.  Wilkinson and Wilkinson Stekloff had previously secured two full defense verdicts for Bayer in similar cases in the federal multi-district litigation in Louisiana. In December 2017, a jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas awarded nearly $28 million to plaintiff Lynn Hartman in a lawsuit that alleged that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals were liable for claims that the Xarelto label did not adequately instruct doctors on the risks of bleeding associated with the anticoagulant Xarelto.  Bayer and Janssen then filed motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a new trial.  The motions raised two key points (among many others).  …

Law360 MVP: Wilkinson Stekloff’s Beth Wilkinson

Law360, New York — Wilkinson Stekloff & Eskovitz PLLC’s Beth Wilkinson only co-founded her firm a year ago, and she and her team have already scored major victories defending Georgia Pacific from a $10 billion antitrust suit and winning the first two trials in the high-stakes Xarelto litigation, securing her a place as one of Law360’s 2017 Trials MVPs. The story is available here. Her biggest accomplishment this year: Wilkinson said that despite the many trial and motion victories her young firm has notched up this past year, her biggest accomplishment is undoubtedly the founding of Wilkinson Stekloff itself back in January. “The building of our firm and the incredibly talented people we’ve managed to get together to work on these cases has been nothing short of amazing,” Wilkinson said. “We started with 17 lawyers and now we’re at 40, and we’re already taking on big, bet-the-company cases that people normally think only BigLaw can …