Wilkinson Stekloff has been honored by Law360 as a Practice Group of the Year—an award that celebrates “the attorney teams behind litigation wins” that “resonated throughout the legal industry”—in both the Competition/Antitrust and Sports & Betting categories. This marks the first time the firm has won two PGOTY honors in the same cycle, underscoring landmark results across trials, appeals, and complex resolutions in 2025. The firm was previously recognized by Law360 in Competition/Antitrust in 2023 and Sports & Betting in 2020. Law360’s features spotlighted Wilkinson Stekloff’s many victories for the NCAA—beginning with securing approval of the groundbreaking $2.8 billion name-image-and-likeness (“NIL”) settlement, which resolved antitrust claims from multiple plaintiff classes against the NCAA and five major athletic conferences, enabling schools to directly compensate student-athletes for their participation in athletics. Despite a complex process that required lead defense negotiator Rakesh Kilaru to defend the deal at multiple hearings before it received …
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 …
Wilkinson Stekloff Delivers in Another Antitrust Case as HPE’s Acquisition of Juniper Networks Is Cleared on the Eve of Trial
July 3, 2025
Wilkinson Stekloff helped position Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to complete its $14 Billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, as the United States Department of Justice dropped its challenge to the deal and agreed to resolve the case. When the government sued to block the deal in January, HPE turned to Wilkinson Stekloff. Led by Beth Wilkinson, Kosta Stojilkovic, Roxy Guidero, and Jenna Pavelec, the team prepared for trial on an expedited basis, conducting dozens of depositions and working with economic experts on quantitative analyses of the market. Owen Gallogly, Kellen McCoy, Cassie Chee, and Dan Epps also contributed to the case. Trial was set to begin on July 9. Instead, days after the submission of pre-trial briefs and other substantive filings, and a week before opening statements, the Department of Justice agreed to a resolution that maintains the vision of the deal and will facilitate increased competition in wireless networking. Judge …
Wilkinson Stekloff Recognized by Law360 and the American Lawyer for NCAA Victory Against Past NIL Claims
May 6, 2025
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 …
Renowned Litigator and Legal Scholar Daniel Epps Joins Wilkinson Stekloff
October 25, 2023
Wilkinson Stekloff is pleased to welcome Daniel Epps, a renowned legal scholar and law professor, to the firm as Of Counsel. Dan is an experienced appellate litigator and is nationally recognized for his expertise on constitutional law, federal courts, criminal law and procedure, and the U.S. Supreme Court. “Dan has cultivated an illustrious career as both a legal scholar and litigator,” said Partner Rakesh Kilaru. “We are excited to welcome him to the firm and add yet another experienced brief writer and appellate strategist to our team.” An experienced Supreme Court practitioner, Dan’s notable matters include serving as co-counsel for the defendant in Ocasio v. United States and drafting the successful petition for certiorari and merits briefing in Walden v. Fiore. He has also drafted a number of Supreme Court certiorari petitions and amicus briefs, as well as numerous briefs in the federal and state appellate courts. Dan is an …