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 the NCAA’s defense, including directing briefing on the Defendants’ joint motion to dismiss, and arguing for dismissal based on the statutes of limitation and preclusion. Those were the arguments Judge Engelmayer relied on in his opinion, holding that “the NCAA’s use today of a NIL acquired decades ago . . . does not constitute a new overt act restarting the limitations clock. Instead . . . [it] reflects performance of an aged agreement: a contract between the student-athlete and the NCAA under which it acquired footage and images of the plaintiff.”
Rakesh also leads the NCAA’s defense in a number of cases with similar claims filed by other high-profile former student athletes like Denard Robinson, Terelle Pryor, and the entire 1983 N.C. State Wolfpack men’s basketball team.
The firm shares recognition with counsel for the athletic conferences, Cooley, Mayer Brown, Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins, Proskauer Rose, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell.
Wilkinson Stekloff has been at the forefront of sports litigation since the firm’s founding. Beyond its years-long representation of the NCAA, the firm achieved a major victory in 2024 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.