WASHINGTON –Wilkinson Stekloff Partners Alex Walsh and James Rosenthal were named 2020 National Law Journal Winning Litigators. The attorneys named to this year’s list are described by the National Law Journal as “conquerors of the courtroom” who have tackled “some of the most widely watched cases of the year.”
Alex and James were recognized for their roles in obtaining a complete defense verdict for Bayer in a class action alleging misrepresentations related to One-A-Day multivitamins. James led the legal strategy and Alex led the trial team.
The National Law Journal also reported Alex and James’ trial tips, found here and below.
Tell us about your biggest win from January 2019 through June 2020 and how you achieved the result for your client. Alex Walsh and James Rosenthal won a complete defense victory in a certified consumer class action alleging Bayer misrepresented the benefits of One-A-Day multivitamins. Rosenthal led a summary judgment strategy that gutted plaintiffs’ statutory damages claim, reducing Bayer’s potential exposure by nearly $4 billion.
Walsh led the trial team and got the named plaintiff to admit she was not deceived about the benefits multivitamins provide. Having secured that and other critical admissions from plaintiffs’ witnesses, Walsh announced to the jury that Bayer had no need to call any witnesses of its own. The jury returned a defense verdict in less than hour.
Share two trial tips that have been key to your success. Tip one: Common sense matters. Plaintiffs’ expert testified multivitamins provide no real nutritional benefit. We attacked that opinion with science, but also hammered the expert’s admission that he himself took multivitamins. Tip two: Pick your battles. Rather than lose credibility by contesting materiality, we focused all efforts on showing Bayer’s One-A-Day statements were true.
Founded in February 2016, Wilkinson Stekloff has grown to nearly 40 lawyers and has quickly established itself as the leading trial boutique firm in the country. The firm has tried over a dozen cases to verdict across the country, winning the vast majority, and has won several other pre-trial victories in bet-the-company cases.
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