Wilkinson Shuns Trump Deals, Billable Hours to Grow Her Boutique

A decade after one of the most prominent US litigators broke away from Paul Weiss to co-found her own firm, Beth Wilkinson said she grew an unexpectedly deep base of clients.

Wilkinson Stekloff’s formula for building the blue-chip client base that includes Microsoft Corp., Visa Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. combines flexible fee rates, a small headcount, and case selectivity, she said.

“Our goal was to be hired by big clients with interesting, big challenges,” Wilkinson said in an interview. “That has happened even more than I expected.”

The 50-lawyer firm is among a slew of litigation boutiques, including Selendy Gay, Hecker Fink, and Susman Godfrey, that have found success in emphasizing different approaches from the much bigger rivals most of them left. The smaller firms avoided mergers as a growth strategy and steered clear of deals with the White House that triggered criticism of nine big firms.

Litigation boutiques “have been insulated” from President Donald Trump’s attacks on Big Law and the deals the nine firms made Wilkinson said. That “is a really great advantage to have in this market.”

The Big Law firms that made deals with Trump last year to avoid punitive executive orders also opened a talent pipeline for the smaller firms, Wilkinson said.

A group of partners, Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson and Jeannie Rhee, from Wilkinson’s former firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, left last year to start a litigation boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee. Meryl Governski of Willkie Farr & Gallagher jumped ship to join them at Dunn Isaacson Rhee. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom associates Rachel Cohen and Brenna Trout Frey exited their firm to join Abbe Lowell’s boutique, Lowell & Associates.

The nine deals firms are “not a place where any well-regarded litigator wants to be—I don’t think that’s good for your brand,” Wilkinson said. “I don’t think that’s good for what we’re supposed to stand up for, which is fighting the government and fighting for the rule of law.”

High-Profile Work

Wilkinson’s boutique in its inaugural decade has scored high-profile wins in court—and some that were high dollar.

The firm represented the NCAA in a $2.8 billion deal settling an antitrust case over student-athlete pay in June 2025, after five years of litigation. The firm made $11 million from its NCAA work during from Sept. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2024, a tax document shows.

Visa Inc. hired Wilkinson to defend against the Department of Justice’s antitrust suit in 2024. A year earlier she defended Altria Group Inc. in a trial over youth vaping that led to a settlement. Her firm led Microsoft Corp.'s successful defense against the Federal Trade Commission move to block its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. in 2023.

“We wanted to prove that you can have a diverse workforce that works at the highest level,” Wilkinson said of her firm. “That’s been very rewarding.”

Her boutique launched in February 2016, originally named Wilkinson Walsh & Eskovitz. It shifted to Wilkinson Stekloff in November 2020.

Two years into her new venture, she represented then US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during confirmation hearings when he faced sexual misconduct allegations that he’s denied.

Hours, Headcount

Wilkinson said a critical part of her firm’s success is that it rejects billable hour fee arrangements. Her alternative approaches include flat fees and contingency arrangements in which the firm’s charges are based on whether it succeeds with a case.

The firm has a 100% collection rate, she said. “What matters is what you can get the client to pay for,” Wilkinson said.

The avoidance of the billable hour also helps the firm attract talent, she said. “Our associates all get exposed to clients very quickly, and they get to work and do the things that really matter because the client isn’t counting heads,” Wilkinson said.

Another key for the firm has been keeping its headcount low, she said.

“I fear that if you had too many people, it would be hard to be in that niche where we are getting these kind of, you know, very lucrative fees for big work,” Wilkinson said. “We deliver super high quality, and we have a small group of people.”

Clients are looking for litigators with focused expertise, she said. “We don’t want to be so busy that we can’t deliver,” Wilkinson said. “Everything is your reputation.”