A Veteran—And Victor—Of Many Courtroom Battles: Beth Wilkinson

Original Jurisdiction

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at [e-mail]. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here.

Veterans Day was last week, so it was very fitting that I interviewed Beth Wilkinson, one of the nation’s top trial lawyers and founding partner of Wilkinson Stekloff. After graduating from Princeton and UVA Law, she began her career as a lawyer in the Army JAG Corps. She then continued her public service by working as a federal prosecutor, where she successfully prosecuted the Oklahoma City bombers.

Over the decades, Beth has handled—and won—many other consequential cases. Earlier this year, she led the trial team that secured judgment as a matter of law for the NFL in the multibillion-dollar Sunday Ticket litigation. Last year, she served as lead trial counsel for Microsoft in the FTC’s challenge to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision—and her victory allowed that $68.7 billion deal to go through. And she shows no signs of slowing down: she was recently retained by Visa to defend the payments giant in a bet-the-company antitrust case.

Thanks to Beth for joining me to discuss her fascinating career and cases—and, of course, for her many years of service to our nation.

Show Notes:

• Beth Wilkinson bio, Wilkinson Stekloff

• Beth Wilkinson bio, Wikipedia

• Beth Wilkinson profile, Chambers and Partners

Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.

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Beth Wilkinson, arriving at court for the trial in FTC v. Microsoft—in which she prevailed (photo by Loren Elliott via Getty Images).

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