Beth has served as lead counsel in over 50 jury trials, including numerous bet-the company, multibillion-dollar cases. She has developed an unrivaled record of victories in federal and state courts throughout the country. Her career has taken Beth from the Army to a leading role in the prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombers to nationally recognized work as a litigation partner at two of the nation’s most prominent law firms, and to founding Wilkinson Stekloff.
Recently, Beth was lead trial counsel for Microsoft in the FTC’s challenge to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision — the second-largest merger trial in American history and the biggest involving a technology company. She defeated the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the transaction after a five-day trial that began less than four weeks after the FTC filed its federal court complaint, and 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 timetable. The American Lawyer named Beth “Litigator of the Week” and described the firm as “the legal equivalent of an elite special ops unit” for leading the successful defense.
Beth also recently achieved a major victory for the NFL and its 32 member teams when a California federal judge granted a post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law, overturning a jury’s earlier $4.7 billion verdict in the class action lawsuit that had challenged the League’s collective licensing of broadcast rights to NFL games. Beth oversaw the weeks-long trial and has been lead counsel for the NFL in the matter since the complaint was filed in 2015.
Beth is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of American Law Institute (ALI), and a Legal 500 “Leading Trial Lawyer.” In 2022, Legal 500 inducted Beth into its Hall of Fame, and in 2024, Chambers and Partners honored her with its national “Outstanding Individual” award. She has been named The American Lawyer “Litigator of the Year,” a Law360 “Trial Ace” and “Trial MVP,” a National Law Journal “Winning Litigator” and “General Litigation Trailblazer,” a Hollywood Reporter “Power Lawyer,” and one of Washingtonian’s “Most Powerful Women in Washington.”
In addition, Chambers and Partners has repeatedly named Beth a national “Star Trial Lawyer” and recently honored her for her “Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession.” Chambers described Beth as “the best trial lawyer there is,” a “superstar,” and a “lion at the bar,” noting her “supreme advocacy” and “unparalleled experience acting as lead trial counsel.” Beth has also been chosen for Benchmark Litigation’s elite group of the 10 leading women litigators who stand out from its iconic “Top 250 Women in Litigation” list, as well as the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers,” and has been recognized by Benchmark as a “Litigation Star.” She has also appeared on Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America” and “500 Leading Litigators in America” lists, and the Daily Journal’s “National Leading Litigators” list.
Beth’s other notable representations include:
- Lead trial counsel for Altria Group, Inc. in an administrative trial related to the FTC’s challenge of Altria’s $12.8 billion minority investment in JUUL Labs. Obtained a full dismissal of claims against Altria by the FTC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge. Also lead counsel for Altria in putative class action antitrust lawsuits pending in the Northern District of California related to the JUUL Labs investment.
- Lead trial counsel for Bayer in the multi-district litigation involving the blood-thinner Xarelto, and in the first Xarelto state court trial. She obtained complete defense verdicts in two MDL bellwether trials and judgment for Bayer notwithstanding a plaintiff’s verdict, in the state court bellwether.
- Lead trial counsel defending Altria Group, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries in the first government entity bellwether trial, brought by the San Francisco Unified School District, in multidistrict litigation arising out of Altria’s minority investment in JUUL Labs, Inc. Just one day after Beth and the Wilkinson Stekloff team completed cross-examinations in plaintiff’s case and the defense case was about to begin, plaintiffs agreed to a global settlement with Altria that resolved the personal injury, consumer class action, and government entity cases brought in over 6,000 e-vapor cases in state and federal courts.
Updated Sep 2024
