Cali Arat is a Partner at Wilkinson Stekloff. Since joining the firm at its founding in 2016, she has served as a key member of more than half of the firm’s trial teams, including most recently leading the representation of Monsanto in the first hybrid trial involving claims that exposure to PCBs and Roundup-branded products, both manufactured by Monsanto, cause Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Cali has helped to develop and execute successful trial strategies for corporate clients across a diverse set of industries, from pharmaceuticals to sports to social media. Her experience includes seven jury trials, three of which were federal multi-district litigation bellwether cases, two of which were bench trials, and two of which were in-person jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has argued numerous motions in state and federal courts at the trial and appellate level.
Cali has also helped obtain successful results for clients prior to trial. Her work has included representing former State Department officials in a nationally publicized series of cases brought under the Freedom of Information Act, and she has briefed every stage of litigation, including securing a full grant of summary judgment for Georgia-Pacific LLC in a multibillion-dollar consumer class action.
In addition to her impressive legal skills, Cali is dedicated to mentoring and is viewed by associates as a “go-to” leader for any issue — whether personal or professional — based on her trustworthiness and strategic judgment. Cali also currently serves as the co-chair of Wilkinson Stekloff’s DEI Committee.
Cali’s work has earned her wide recognition. She has been ranked by Legal 500 for “Sports,” identified as a “Rising Star of the Courtroom” by Business Insider, and selected for Lawdragon’s “500 X — The Next Generation.” She is recognized as a “Litigation Star” and named to Benchmark’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” and top “40 & Under Hotlist.” The National Law Journal honored Cali as a “Rising Star,” and she was featured in Law.com’s “How I Made Partner” series.
Before joining Wilkinson Stekloff, Cali clerked for Chief Judge John R. Tunheim, United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. She earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Macalester College and her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan.
Cali’s other notable representations include:
- Served as trial counsel in Clark v. Monsanto, a trial involving claims that Roundup causes Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Cali argued the general-causation Daubert motion and handled several witnesses. 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. After a single day of deliberation, the jury delivered the first-ever verdict for Monsanto in the Roundup mass tort litigation.
- Serves as co-lead counsel for the NCAA and helped secure a groundbreaking and highly publicized settlement in a series of overlapping class action lawsuits brought under the Sherman Act, claiming billions of dollars in damages over the NCAA’s rules related to name, image, and likeness payments and “pay-to-play” prohibition.
Updated Sep 2024
