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; trial counsel for Facebook in a $6 billion intellectual property trial; trial counsel for a former pharmaceutical executive in a nationally reported healthcare fraud trial; and defense of 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.
Many of Kosta’s recent matters involve antitrust claims. For several years, he has led the defense of Cargill in multidistrict litigation alleging anticompetitive conduct in the cattle and beef industries. Kosta has represented Amazon in multiple merger reviews and is part of the company’s defense team in e-commerce litigation opposite the Federal Trade Commission and various State Attorneys General. He also recently served as trial counsel to Hewlett Packard Enterprise opposite the Department of Justice in defense of a proposed $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. On the eve of trial, the DOJ agreed to drop the challenge and resolve the case, positioning HPE to close on the acquisition.
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 has a record of success in post-trial proceedings as well, including defeating attempted recoveries of several hundred million dollars from his clients.
Kosta is recognized as a “Litigation Star” (Benchmark, 2025). He is nationally ranked for “Antitrust” and “Sports” (Legal 500, 2024-present). He has been named to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America” (2019-present), “500 Leading Litigators in America” (2022-present), and “500 Leading Global Antitrust and Competition Lawyers” (2025). He previously featured on the “40 & Under Hotlist” (Benchmark 2018-2019), as a “Rising Star for Trials” (Law360, 2018), and a “DC Rising Star” (National Law Journal, 2017).
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 offenses. In recognition for this work, he received a Department of Justice Director’s Award and an Assistant Attorney General’s Award. Kosta began his legal career by clerking for the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr. on the Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit.
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 2025
