Law360 recently featured Partner Rakesh Kilaru in an article chronicling the accomplishments that led to his 2024 MVP for Sports & Betting recognition. This past year, Rakesh delivered major victories for the NCAA and NFL, confirming his standing as the first choice for clients facing the toughest and most consequential litigation in professional and college sports. Most recently, Rakesh surfaced as the architect of a groundbreaking settlement to a series of antitrust class action lawsuits brought by hundreds of thousands of current and former student-athletes challenging NCAA rules that limit student-athlete compensation and benefits. Preliminary approval of the $2.78 billion settlement, one of the largest and most consequential in sports and antitrust history, was granted on October 7, 2024. Rakesh also served as co-lead trial counsel for the NFL and its 32 member clubs in a class action lawsuit brought by residential and commercial subscribers of the NFL’s Sunday Ticket …
Beth Wilkinson and Rakesh Kilaru Named Winning Litigators at 2024 National Law Journal Legal Awards
October 28, 2024
In recognition of Wilkinson Stekloff’s remarkable run of wins in some of the past year’s most consequential trials and matters, Founding Partner Beth Wilkinson and Partner Rakesh Kilaru were named joint Winning Litigators at the 2024 National Law Journal Legal Awards. This prestigious annual series highlights the top litigation work of law firms and attorneys from the previous year. Selected from a competitive field of 20 accomplished finalists, Beth and Rakesh secured the Winning Litigators recognition for their work taking on some of the largest and most complex antitrust litigation in the country. They led the team that won the second largest merger trial in American history and the biggest involving a technology company, defeating the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. They continue to represent Microsoft in the FTC’s appeal in the Ninth Circuit and the FTC’s challenge to the merger through an …
Law360 Selects Rakesh Kilaru as Sports & Betting MVP
October 22, 2024
Wilkinson Stekloff Partner Rakesh Kilaru has been recognized by Law360 as a 2024 MVP for Sports & Betting. Selected from more than 900 submissions, this year’s class of MVPs has distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters, and record-breaking deals. Most recently, Rakesh served as the lead defense negotiator of a groundbreaking settlement, announced in May 2024, involving a series of antitrust class action lawsuits brought by hundreds of thousands of current and former student-athletes against the NCAA and the Autonomy Five collegiate athletic conferences. 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. Preliminary approval of the $2.78 billion settlement, one of the largest and most consequential litigation settlements in sports and …
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 …
Lawdragon Once Again Recognizes Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Among Its 2025 500 Leading Litigators in America
September 12, 2024
Lawdragon once again recognized Wilkinson Stekloff partners in the third edition of its 500 Leading Litigators in America. This guide spotlights attorneys who excel in representing corporations and other market-leading entities in their most significant legal battles. Lawdragon’s selection process involves extensive independent research into the attorneys making a significant impact on the legal field, emphasizing recent matters handled. Those selected for the guide typically have decades of experience in leading roles in state or federal courts, or before government agencies and international adjudicatory entities. They are also chosen for their intellect, wisdom, conduct, and leadership. The ten Wilkinson Stekloff partners recognized include: Beth Wilkinson Brian Stekloff Keri Arnold Jeremy Barber Kieran Gostin Rakesh Kilaru Moira Penza Ralia Polechronis James Rosenthal Kosta Stojilkovic
National Law Journal Legal Awards 2024 Honors Wilkinson Stekloff Attorneys for the Third Year in a Row
August 27, 2024
In recognition of Wilkinson Stekloff’s remarkable run of wins in some of the past year’s most consequential trials and matters, the National Law Journal selected three of the firm’s attorneys for honors in its 2024 Legal Awards. Founding Partner Beth Wilkinson and Partner Rakesh Kilaru were named joint finalists in the Winning Litigators category, and Counsel Sarah Neuman was named a Rising Star. The NLJ Legal Awards is a prestigious annual series that highlights the top litigation work of law firms and attorneys from the previous year. Beth and Rakesh secured the Winning Litigators recognition for their work taking on some of the largest and most complex antitrust litigation in the country. They led the team that won the second largest merger trial in American history and the biggest involving a technology company, defeating the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision …
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 …
Wilkinson Stekloff Leads Law360’s Legal Lions of the Week and American Lawyer’s Litigators of the Week for Securing Post-Trial NFL Victory
August 6, 2024
On August 2, Law360 recognized Wilkinson Stekloff’s major victory on behalf of the NFL and its 32 member teams as the lead achievement in its Legal Lions of the Week feature, highlighting several members of the Wilkinson Stekloff team, including Beth Wilkinson, Brian Stekloff, Rakesh Kilaru, Jeremy Barber, and Max Warren. In addition, the American Lawyer named Beth, Brian, and Rakesh its Litigators of the Week on August 14. Wilkinson Stekloff secured this win when a California federal judge granted the NFL’s post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law, overturning a jury’s earlier verdict in the class action lawsuit that had challenged the League’s collective licensing of broadcast rights to NFL games, including the exclusive distributorship arrangement with DIRECTV for its Sunday Ticket subscription. U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez’s definitive ruling, which set aside the jury’s original $4.7 billion award to the plaintiffs, comes after nine years …
Wilkinson Stekloff Delivers a Win for NFL as Judge Overturns ‘Sunday Ticket’ Jury Verdict
August 2, 2024
Wilkinson Stekloff achieved a major victory for the NFL and its 32 member teams when a California federal judge granted their post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law, overturning a jury’s earlier verdict in the class action lawsuit that had challenged the League’s collective licensing of broadcast rights to NFL games, including the exclusive distributorship arrangement with DIRECTV for its Sunday Ticket subscription. In his August 1 order, U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez excluded as “unreliable” the testimony of Plaintiffs’ key expert witnesses. Without their testimony, he noted, the Plaintiffs “failed to provide evidence from which a reasonable jury could make a finding of injury.” Judge Gutierrez’ definitive ruling comes after nine years of litigation in which certain Sunday Ticket subscribers alleged that the league’s media rights model had violated U.S. antitrust law. Wilkinson Stekloff has served as the NFL’s lead counsel throughout the litigation. Partners Beth …
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 …