Wilkinson Stekloff is the leading trial litigation boutique in the country, demonstrating a depth of talent and skill unmatched by firms of any size. Described by The American Lawyer as “the legal equivalent of an elite special ops unit,” Wilkinson Stekloff is at the forefront of today’s most significant litigation moving the needle in the legal industry, from landmark, precedent-setting antitrust cases to bellwether products liability trials. Fortune 500 chief executives and general counsel turn to Wilkinson Stekloff attorneys for their strategic guidance, courtroom expertise, and unparalleled track record on the most high- profile, high-stakes disputes. The firm’s clients have included heavy-hitters in a wide range of industries, such as Allergan, Altria Group Inc., Amazon, Bayer, Cargill, Facebook, FedEx, Georgia-Pacific, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals USA, Medtronic, Microsoft, Monsanto, the NCAA, the NFL, Pfizer, Plaid, and Philip Morris USA — all of which have come to rely on Wilkinson Stekloff as a go-to trial firm that can handle their toughest cases.
What makes Wilkinson Stekloff unique?
The firm’s innovative business model and mission set Beth Wilkinson, Brian Stekloff, and their team apart from other trial practice groups. The firm offers fixed-fee arrangements for all cases, giving clients certainty around their budgets even in the most contentious trials. And because clients know they will pay the same fee no matter the size of the team, the firm can employ its depth of talent in all key events — depositions, strategy sessions, and court hearings — without affecting clients’ bottom line.
The firm views it as critical not just to hire outstanding attorneys, but to give them meaningful trial experience and client exposure. This is deliberate, as it supports the firm’s overall mission — to develop the next generation of trial lawyers. And this mission sets Wilkinson Stekloff apart from all trial practice groups. At Wilkinson Stekloff, the vast majority of associates have worked on at least one trial, and those who have been with the firm for years are veterans of many trials in jurisdictions across the country.
The firm prides itself on providing pro bono representation to clients facing trials. The range of the firm’s pro bono practice is unmatched, covering appeals, class actions, and strategic counseling. Wilkinson Stekloff has handled more than 100 pro bono matters since its founding in 2016, with nearly all of the firm’s attorneys devoting significant time to those matters, and the firm’s brightest young talent winning trials in leadership roles.
Latest Results
Recently, the firm achieved headline-making results for Microsoft in the second-largest merger trial in history — and the biggest involving a technology company — over its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The firm defeated the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the transaction after a five-day trial that began less than two weeks after the FTC filed its federal court complaint. The firm directed all aspects of litigation strategy from the time the acquisition was announced in January 2022, positioning the case for a federal court victory on an unprecedented timeline. This trial marked Wilkinson Stekloff ’s second major win against an antitrust challenge by the FTC, the first being its win for Altria in a challenge to the company’s $12.8 billion minority investment in JUUL Labs, Inc. Wilkinson Stekloff won in front of the FTC’s Administrative Law Judge, and the FTC subsequently dismissed the case.
Other recent results include obtaining full judgment for the NFL in post-trial proceedings in a $21 billion challenge to the NFL’s media model, as well as the firm’s negotiation of the groundbreaking and highly publicized settlement of major antitrust lawsuits filed against the NCAA and its five athletic conferences by current and former student-athletes pertaining to use of their name, image, and likeness.
Other representative matters include:
- Clark v. Monsanto Company, et al. After just a day of deliberation, won the first-ever jury verdict for Monsanto in litigation over claims that the herbicide Roundup causes Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Clark was the fourth case in this mass tort to go to trial, with the three previous trials resulting in verdicts against Monsanto ranging from $81 million to over $2 billion.
- Farar et al. v. Bayer AG et al. Won an outright defense verdict in a multi-state class action trial involving One A Day vitamins. Plaintiffs alleged that Bayer made false, misleading, and deceptive statements about One A Day. Before trial,
Wilkinson Stekloff ’s motions practice reduced the potential damages by hundreds of millions of dollars. At trial, based on devastating cross-examinations by Wilkinson Stekloff ’s attorneys, the defense rested without calling a single witness. After just over an hour of deliberation, the jury returned a complete defense verdict.
- In the Matter of Altria Group, Inc. and JUUL Labs, Inc. Secured an unprecedented FTC dismissal on behalf of Altria following a month-long administrative trial before the FTC over Altria’s minority investment in JUUL. A February 2022 ruling by the Chief Administrative Law Judge dismissed in their entirety claims by the FTC that Altria and JUUL violated antitrust laws. The matter was on appeal within the FTC, but on June 30, 2023, the FTC dismissed its complaint against Altria.
- In re Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation. Won bellwether trials on behalf of Bayer in mass tort proceedings involving the blood thinner Xarelto. Plaintiffs claimed that Bayer had failed to provide adequate warnings to doctors about risks associated with Xarelto. In the first two federal trials in New Orleans, Wilkinson Stekloff secured unanimous defense verdicts within two hours of closing arguments. Then, in the first three state court trials in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Wilkinson Stekloff secured two defense verdicts and a judgment notwithstanding an adverse verdict in a third case.
Accolades
Achieving this many successes with a firm of just 40 attorneys has led to multiple accolades for Wilkinson Stekloff and its attorneys, including being nationally ranked by leading publications Benchmark Litigation, Chambers, Legal 500, The American Lawyer, and The National Law Journal. Most recently, Wilkinson Stekloff was selected as “Trial Firm of the Year” by Benchmark and “Practice Group of the Year: Antitrust” by Law360, and received “Matter of the Year” awards for the Microsoft/Activision deal from both Benchmark and Global Competition Review.
Clients, colleagues, and competitors acknowledge that, lawyer for lawyer and matter for matter, Wilkinson Stekloff is a litigation juggernaut poised to continue its success for years to come.
Updated Sep 2024
