On May 2, Law360 recognized Wilkinson Stekloff in its Legal Lions of the Week feature for winning dismissal of all claims in Chalmers, et al. v. NCAA, et al., in the Southern District of New York. In addition, the American Lawyer acknowledged the victory by the NCAA and major athletic conferences in their Litigator’s of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs. The Wilkinson Stekloff team was led by Rakesh Kilaru, and included Cali Arat, Tamarra Matthews Johnson, Daniel Epps, and Matthew Skanchy. Chalmers—who famously made a game-tying three-point shot at the end of regulation in the 2008 men’s basketball national championship game—filed his complaint against the NCAA and six major athletic conferences, seeking to represent a sprawling nationwide class of former student-athletes dating back more than 40 years. Chalmers claimed the class members’ NIL had been used improperly by the NCAA in advertising “March Madness” and its other championships. Rakesh led …
Benchmark Litigation Selects Wilkinson Stekloff as a Top 20 Trial Law Firm, Honors Eight Partners
October 9, 2024
Wilkinson Stekloff has been named a Top 20 Trial Law Firm in the 2025 Benchmark Litigation guide, marking the third consecutive year the firm has received this prestigious recognition. Additionally, Wilkinson Stekloff was recognized as a Top Boutique, ranked as Tier 1 for Commercial Litigation, and is Highly Recommended for Dispute Resolution in D.C. Considered the definitive guide to the world’s leading litigation firms and lawyers, Benchmark Litigation rankings are determined by six months of extensive research, which includes interviews with peers and clients. In addition to the firm’s rankings, Wilkinson Stekloff Founding Partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff were recognized among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers, an elite group selected by peers and clients as the best of the best in the practice of trial law. This recognition comes on the heels of Beth being named a Top 10 Female Litigator by Benchmark Litigation for the fourth year in a row. Benchmark Litigation also recognized several Wilkinson …
Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2024 Top 250 Women in Litigation; Beth Wilkinson Honored Among Top 10
August 15, 2024
For the fourth consecutive year, Beth Wilkinson was honored among Benchmark Litigation’s prestigious “Top 10 Women in Litigation,” an elite subset of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” that celebrates recipients of the most robust and vocal “best-in-class” nominations throughout Benchmark’s research cycle. In addition, Partners Cali Arat, Keri Arnold, and Moira Penza were selected to the “Top 250 Women in Litigation,” a guide that honors women who have participated in some of the most impactful litigation matters in recent history, earning the hard-won respect of their peers and clients as top players in their respective fields. Beth has served as lead counsel in over 50 jury trials, including numerous bet-the company, multibillion-dollar cases, developing an unrivaled record of victories in federal and state courts throughout the country. Beth’s career has taken her from the Army to a leading role in the prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombers to nationally recognized work as a litigation partner at two of …
Three Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2024 40 and Under List
August 9, 2024
Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Cali Arat, Rakesh Kilaru, and Moira Penza were named to the 2024 Benchmark Litigation’s “40 and Under,” a list of the nation’s best and brightest young litigators. This is Cali’s second appearance on the list and Moira’s fourth. Rakesh has secured a spot each year since 2018. Since joining the firm at its founding in 2016, Cali has served as a key member of more than half of the firm’s trial teams, including most recently leading the representation of Monsanto in the first hybrid trial involving claims that exposure to PCBs and Roundup-branded products, both manufactured by Monsanto, cause Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Cali has helped to develop and execute successful trial strategies for corporate clients across a diverse set of industries, from pharmaceuticals to sports to social media. Her experience includes seven jury trials, three of which were federal multi-district litigation bellwether cases, two of which were bench trials, and two of which …
Legal 500 Continues to Recognize Wilkinson Stekloff as a Top-Tier Firm
July 1, 2024
In recognition of the size, complexity, and significance of the litigation handled by Wilkinson Stekloff across the antitrust, product liability, and sports landscapes, legal industry research outlet Legal 500 has ranked the firm and its attorneys among the trial elite in the recently released 2024 guide for the United States. Across all types of high-stakes litigation, 40-lawyer firm Wilkinson Stekloff has delivered a slate of client victories that would be the envy of far larger firms, trying over 20 cases to verdict since 2016 and stacking up win after win. In recognition of these results, Legal 500 has maintained the firm’s top-tier status in the prestigious Leading Trial Lawyers category for Dispute Resolution and its Tier 4 ranking in Sports. The firm also improved its rankings in Product Liability, Mass Tort, and Class Action Defense for Toxic Tort (Tier 2) and Consumer Products Including Tobacco (Tier 3), and is newly …
Bloomberg Law Features Rakesh Kilaru’s Lead Role in Negotiating Landmark NCAA Settlement
June 3, 2024
Bloomberg Law featured Wilkinson Stekloff Partner Rakesh Kilaru’s leading role in negotiating a groundbreaking and highly-publicized settlement to major antitrust lawsuits filed against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its five major athletic conferences by current and former student-athletes. Wilkinson Stekloff, led by Rakesh and Partner Cali Arat, has served as lead counsel for the NCAA in the series of overlapping class action lawsuits brought under the Sherman Act. Seeking to revolutionize college sports, plaintiffs challenged NCAA rules that limit student-athlete compensation and benefits, including rules restricting student-athletes from the commercial use of their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”), as well as rules prohibiting professional-style revenue sharing. From the moment each case was filed, Wilkinson Stekloff played a key role in coordinating and executing the overall defense strategy. In its article detailing the dozens of legal minds responsible for advising both the defendants and plaintiffs, Bloomberg Law highlighted Rakesh’s …
Benchmark Litigation Names Wilkinson Stekloff a Top 20 Trial Law Firm, Honors Eight Partners
October 19, 2023
Wilkinson Stekloff has been named a Top 20 Trial Law Firm in the 2024 Benchmark Litigation guide. Along with this prestigious recognition, the firm is also ranked as Tier 1 for Commercial Litigation and Highly Recommended for Dispute Resolution, and is recognized as a Top Boutique. Considered the definitive guide to the world’s leading litigation firms and lawyers, Benchmark Litigation rankings are determined by six months of extensive research, which includes interviews with peers and clients. In addition to the firm’s rankings, Wilkinson Stekloff Founding Partners Beth Wilkinson and Brian Stekloff were recognized among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers, an elite group selected by peers and clients as the best of the best in the practice of trial law, with the representative work to exemplify this status. This recognition comes on the heels of Beth being named a Top 10 Female Litigator by Benchmark Litigation for the third year in a row. Benchmark Litigation also …
Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2023 Top 250 Women in Litigation; Beth Wilkinson Recognized Among Top 10
August 3, 2023
For the third consecutive year, Beth Wilkinson was named to Benchmark Litigation’s prestigious Top 10 Women in Litigation, an elite subset of the Top 250 Women in Litigation that celebrates recipients of the most robust and vocal “best-in-class” nominations throughout Benchmark`s research cycle. In addition, Cali Arat (née Cope-Kasten), Keri Arnold, and Moira Penza were also selected to the Top 250 Women in Litigation Guide, which honors women who have participated in some of the most impactful litigation matters in recent history, and earned the hard-won respect of their peers and clients as top players in their respective fields. Beth has served as lead counsel in over 50 jury trials, including numerous bet-the company, multibillion-dollar cases. She has developed an unrivaled record of victories in federal and state courts throughout the country. Most recently, Beth was lead trial counsel for Microsoft in the FTC’s challenge to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition …
Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2023 40 & Under List
August 1, 2023
Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Cali Arat (née Cope-Kasten), Rakesh Kilaru, and Moira Penza were named to the 2023 Benchmark Litigation 40 & Under List, the guide to the nation’s most notable up-and-coming litigation attorneys. This is Cali’s first appearance on the list and Moira’s third. Rakesh has secured a spot each year since 2018. Since joining the firm at its founding in 2016, Cali has served as a key member of more than half of the firm’s trial teams, including most recently leading the representation of Monsanto in the first hybrid trial involving claims that exposure to PCBs and Roundup-branded products, both manufactured by Monsanto, cause Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Cali has helped to develop and execute successful trial strategies for corporate clients across a diverse set of industries, from pharmaceuticals to sports to social media. Her experience includes seven jury trials, three of which were federal multi-district litigation bellwether cases, two of which …
Wilkinson Stekloff Ranked Among 2023 Trial Elite
June 14, 2023
In recognition of Wilkinson Stekloff’s work on some of the most consequential trials across the antitrust, product liability, and sports landscape, legal industry research outlets Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 have ranked the firm among the trial elite in their recently released 2023 editions. Chambers has maintained Wilkinson Stekloff’s position as one of the country’s most highly sought litigation boutiques, ranking it for General Commercial Litigation (DC) — The Elite (Band 3) and Product Liability & Mass Torts (USA-Nationwide) – The Elite (Band 4). Chambers also recognized Partners Beth Wilkinson (Star Individual in Trial Lawyers USA-Nationwide, Product Liability & Mass Torts Nationwide, General Commercial, DC, and Sports Law Nationwide, Band 4) and Brian Stekloff (Product Liability & Mass Torts Nationwide, Band 5). Wilkinson Stekloff is also newly noted as a “Firm to Watch” in Antitrust — Civil Litigation/Class Action Defense by The Legal 500, and is newly ranked …