WASHINGTON – Wilkinson Stekloff’s Kosta Stojilkovic and Kieran Gostin were named to Law360’s “Rising Stars of 2018,” an honor for “attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments transcend their age.” Kosta Stojilkovic was recognized for his trial work, while Kieran Gostin was recognized for his work on products liability matters.
“Kosta and Kieran’s well-deserved recognition underscores our firm’s philosophy of empowering younger attorneys to showcase their talent, regardless of age or seniority,” said Wilkinson Stekloff Founding Partner Sean Eskovitz. “Kosta and Kieran are litigation superstars, bringing great intellect, judgment, and energy to everything they do, and we are proud that they are leading the way for the next generation of trial lawyers.“
Law360’s Rising Stars for 2018 were selected from over 1,200 submissions and are “based on their career accomplishments in their respective disciplines.”
Most recently, Kosta obtained a complete defense verdict in McNair v. NCAA, a high-profile defamation case. At age 39, Kosta took over as lead trial counsel after the NCAA had lost three pre-trial appeals, including on the issue of plaintiff’s ability to show falsity and malice. At trial, Kosta persuaded the jury to find that none of the NCAA’s statements was false. After the verdict, trial judge Frederick Shaller called the advocacy in the case “the best I’ve seen since I’ve been a judge.” Kosta also served as trial counsel for Facebook and other defendants in a $6 billion intellectual property dispute, where the jury cleared Facebook on all charges and the court awarded plaintiffs less than five percent of their requested damages from the other defendants.
Since joining Wilkinson Stekloff as an associate, Kieran has used his breadth of experience representing government and corporate clients to secure major victories for Wilkinson Stekloff’s clients. In a recent nationwide products liability MDL alleging that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals were liable for claims that the Xarelto label did not adequately instruct doctors about the risks associated with the anticoagulant Xarelto, Kieran helped lead the team to complete defense verdicts in the first two bellwether trials. Kieran was promoted to Counsel at Wilkinson Stekloff at the beginning of 2018.
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