Kosta is a seasoned trial lawyer and strategist who has tried more than a dozen complex cases to verdict. As a Partner with Wilkinson Stekloff, he has played a key role in many of the firm’s matters, including serving as lead trial counsel for the NCAA in a high-profile defamation jury trial; serving as trial counsel for Facebook in a $6 billion intellectual property trial; serving as trial counsel for a former pharmaceutical executive in a nationally reported healthcare fraud trial; and defending a sitting federal judge in mandamus proceedings in the D.C. Circuit. He has also represented several Fortune 50 companies in high-stakes disputes and governmental investigations that have not become public.
Kosta’s current matters include multiple high-profile investigations by federal antitrust regulators, defense of one of the largest beef producers in the United States in a series of civil antitrust cases alleging a conspiracy to constrain output and raise profits, and defense of a pharmaceutical company against criminal antitrust charges. Kosta has also led representations in other substantive areas of law, including commercial disputes, environmental enforcement, intellectual property, and white-collar crime. While the goal in every case is to win before or at trial, Kosta also has a record of success in post-trial proceedings, including defeating attempted recoveries from his clients in the amount of several hundred million dollars.
Before joining the firm, Kosta served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he successfully prosecuted fraud, public corruption, and intellectual property crimes on a national and international level. Kosta began his legal career by clerking for the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr. on the Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit.
Kosta has received numerous awards in private practice, including being recognized as one of the Lawdragon 500 “Leading Lawyers” and “Leading Litigators” in America, a Benchmark “Future Star” and “Litigation Star,” a member of Benchmark’s “40 & Under Hotlist,” a Law360 “Rising Star” for “Trials,” and a National Law Journal “DC Rising Star.” Kosta has also been nationally ranked for “Antitrust” and “Sports” by Legal 500. He previously received awards for his work as a prosecutor, including a Department of Justice Director’s Award and an Assistant Attorney General’s Award.
By appointment of Chief Justice Roberts, Kosta is one of a select group of practitioners nationwide who serve on the U.S. Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which considers and recommends changes to the rules that govern federal litigation.
Kosta’s other notable representations include:
- Represented the Executive Council of the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake in Hengle v. Asner, a consumer class action filed in the Eastern District of Virginia in April 2019. After motions practice resulted in Plaintiffs dropping all claims for money damages against the Tribe’s economic development arms and the dismissal of Plaintiffs’ injunctive relief claim under RICO, the parties reached a nationwide class action settlement in which the Tribe paid $0 into the settlement fund and $0 in attorneys’ fees.
- Obtained a complete dismissal under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of a putative securities fraud class action in Amalgamated Bank et al. v. Maximus, Inc. et al., in the Eastern District of Virginia. The victory was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Updated Sep 2024
