Wilkinson Stekloff is proud to be featured by The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily in the first of a two-part series by Ross Todd, examining how the firm has grown into the nation’s premier trial boutique over its first decade. The article offers an in-depth look at the alternative fee model and trial-first philosophy that have defined the firm—and its success—since Founding Partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff left their previous positions in Big Law. Ten years in, the firm has grown to nearly 50 lawyers and 30 staff, with a client roster that includes household names such as the NFL, the NCAA, Microsoft, Bayer, and Cargill. Central to the firm’s growth and development has been its commitment to flat-fee arrangements over the billable hour, which frees the firm to focus entirely on what it does best: trying high-stakes cases. That approach, Beth explained, “gives clients and their CFOs a level …
Wilkinson Stekloff Wins Big at Benchmark Litigation’s 2026 U.S. Awards
March 12, 2026
Wilkinson Stekloff was honored with multiple awards at Benchmark Litigation’s 2026 U.S. Awards ceremony on March 11 in New York City. The firm was named “Trial Firm of the Year” for an unprecedented third consecutive year. Founding Partner Beth Wilkinson was inducted into Benchmark’s “Hall of Fame.” Partner Rakesh Kilaru won “Antitrust Litigator of the Year.” And the NCAA’s groundbreaking $2.8 billion NIL settlement received an “Impact Case Award.” Beth Wilkinson and fellow Founding Partner Brian Stekloff were also finalists in the respective categories of “Trial Lawyer of the Year” and “Product Liability Litigator of the Year”—distinctions each earned in previous years—and the firm was shortlisted again for “D.C. Firm of the Year” and “Boutique Firm of the Year,” having captured the latter in both 2017 and 2019. Beth Wilkinson’s appearance in Benchmark Litigation’s Hall of Fame is a fitting tribute to one of the nation’s preeminent trial lawyers, having …
Wilkinson Stekloff Featured in Washington Lawyer Cover Story for Its Innovative Approach to Associate Development
March 2, 2026
Wilkinson Stekloff is proud to be featured by the Washington Lawyer, the official publication of the D.C. bar, in its latest cover story titled “Redefining the New Associate Experience.” The article offers an in-depth look at how the firm—celebrating its 10th anniversary this year—has built a distinctive model to achieve its primary mission: developing the next generation of trial lawyers. Bucking the conventions of traditional big law practice, Wilkinson Stekloff’s approach offers a compelling model grounded in hands-on experience, early responsibility, and a culture that prizes mentorship over hierarchy. “There are a lot of great attributes, qualities, and development that you can get in Big Law, but it’s hard to develop those skills for a trial because you need a lot of repetition.” says Beth Wilkinson, one of the firm’s founding partners. “So, a lot of young attorneys don’t get that trial experience.” “Brian Stekloff, the firm’s other founding partner, …
Wilkinson Stekloff Celebrates 10 Years with a Look Back at 2025 Achievements
February 2, 2026
As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we remember our beloved colleagues and friends Elizabeth Keys and Sarah Lee Best, whose lives were among those tragically lost in the airplane crash above Reagan National Airport a year ago. Liz and Sarah left an enduring mark on our firm and on all of us as individuals. We have kept them in our hearts and minds and always will. To honor their memories, we endowed scholarships in their names at their law school alma maters, Georgetown and Pennsylvania. With the support of our clients and colleagues, those scholarships have been fully funded and will aid new generations of lawyers in carrying on Liz’s and Sarah’s legacies. Continuing our tradition of excellence, in 2025 Wilkinson Stekloff again achieved landmark results spanning a variety of high-stakes matters, further entrenching the firm as the premier trial litigation boutique in the nation. Our recent successes include: As …
Benchmark Litigation Shortlists Wilkinson Stekloff Across Six Categories for 2026 U.S. Awards
January 9, 2026
Wilkinson Stekloff has been shortlisted for Benchmark Litigation’s 2026 U.S. Awards, marking the firm’s third consecutive year as a finalist for Boutique Firm of the Year, D.C. Firm of the Year, and Trial Firm of the Year––an award the firm won in both 2024 and 2025. Founding partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff are again shortlisted for “Trial Lawyer of the Year” and “Product Liability Litigator of the Year”, respectively, while Partner Rakesh Kilaru is a first-time finalist, for “Antitrust Litigator of the Year.” These nominations further add to the firm’s impressive Benchmark profile, which includes being named a “Top 20 Trial Firm” and “Top Boutique Firm”, ranked “Tier 1” in both Antitrust and Commercial litigation, and coming “Highly Recommended” in Washington, D.C. Rakesh also recently joined Beth and Brian among Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and seven Partners have earned Litigation Star status. Benchmark’s recognition follows a string of …
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 …
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 Partner Cali Arat Named Law360 Rising Star for Product Liability
July 30, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff Partner Cali Arat was profiled as one of Law360’s Rising Stars—an award honoring “attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.” From over 1,100 submissions, Cali was selected for her substantial achievements over the past several years as one of only three practitioners in the Product Liability practice area. In an interview with Law360, Cali reflected on her work at the forefront of high-stakes product liability litigation. She recounted her role in securing Monsanto’s first trial win in its Roundup litigation, Clark v. Monsanto, saying it “was a real uphill battle for us.” Despite the difficulties faced, Cali’s examinations of two crucial expert witnesses—directing Monsanto’s weed science expert and crossing plaintiff’s human studies expert—contributed to a victory that “changed the tide” as Monsanto went on to score multiple subsequent wins in the sprawling litigation. Cali next served as lead counsel for the Bayer subsidiary in a first-of-its-kind …
Wilkinson Stekloff Again Recognized by Chambers Among Trial Elite; Seven Partners Receive Individual Rankings
June 5, 2025
Chambers and Partners again ranked Wilkinson Stekloff as an elite law firm across multiple practice areas in its newly released USA 2025 Guide. The leading legal industry research outlet continues to recognize the firm’s work on the most significant trials and consequential litigation in the country across the antitrust, products liability, and sports landscape. Wilkinson Stekloff has maintained its reputation as a national litigation powerhouse despite its boutique moniker and modest 40-attorney roster, taking nearly two dozen bet-the-company, multi-billion-dollar cases to trial since the firm’s inception, stacking up win after win. Most recently, the firm scored a complete victory for the NFL and its 32 member teams after post-trial briefing in a class action lawsuit challenging the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” subscription package distribution model. In acknowledgement of these continued successes, Chambers has raised Wilkinson Stekloff’s rankings nearly across the board and vaulted the firm into an additional nationwide category, Antitrust …
Ten Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Selected to the 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
April 8, 2025
For a tenth consecutive year – each year since the founding of the firm – Wilkinson Stekloff partners have been honored on the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America list. After founding partner Beth Wilkinson was inducted into Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame in 2024, the firm has placed ten partners on the publication’s 20th edition of their flagship guide. The 500 Leading Lawyers in America is an annual guide that recognizes the most influential attorneys in the nation. The lawyers chosen for this list lead matters across the country in a variety of jurisdictions but have one thing in common – they achieve success for their clients. The honorees are identified through a nomination process and rigorous independent research, including vetting with peers and competitors to ensure those selected are truly at the top of the legal field. The ten Wilkinson Stekloff partners honored as Leading Lawyers are: Brian L. …