What happens when top trial lawyers walk away from BigLaw’s billable-hour machine and build a firm laser-focused on taking cases all the way to verdict?
Wilkinson Stekloff is the result of a complete change of focus from the traditional bill-by-the-hour model – a lean, effective trial boutique that has become one of the most respected names in high-stakes litigation in the US, without ever sending a single traditional timesheet to a client.
More than a decade ago, Beth Wilkinson left Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with a simple but disruptive idea – take on matters poised for trial and bill with flat fees (sometimes with a success component) instead of the endless grind of hourly billing.
She brought together top litigators from firms like Munger, Tolles & Olson, Covington & Burling, and Kirkland & Ellis. The firm launched as Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz and has since evolved into Wilkinson Stekloff, named after co-founder Brian Stekloff, the final remaining original partner alongside Wilkinson.
Today, the firm stands at nearly 50 lawyers (including 14 partners) and more than 30 staff. Its clients include some of the biggest names in corporate America: the National Football League, Cargill, the NCAA, and Microsoft Corp., among others.
And remarkably, it has done all this while maintaining a business model that many in BigLaw still consider radical.
It is also on LawFuel’s Power Law Firm List.
In a recent conversation with Litigation Daily, Wilkinson, Stekloff, and junior partners Moira Penza and Kosta Stojilkovic explained exactly how rejecting the billable hour has shaped everything from client relationships to associate development.
The End of Billing Battles
One of the most immediate benefits has been the complete absence of a billing department – and the endless friction that comes with it.
“We don’t ever fight with clients over time entries, which you hear about constantly,” Wilkinson said. At her former firm, she estimated spending roughly 20% of her time on timesheets, client negotiations, and write-offs. “Nobody likes doing it. In-house counsel don’t like it, and law firm partners don’t like doing it either.”
By agreeing on a fixed fee upfront—with the possibility of a success fe, the firm delivers something increasingly rare in high-stakes litigation – certainty. Clients and their CFOs know the cost going in, making it easier to greenlight bet-the-company matters that might otherwise induce sticker shock.
The result has been a clean 100% realization rate—a figure that would make most AmLaw 100 partners green with envy.
Better Training, Better Staffing, Better Trials
The fixed-fee model also changes how cases are staffed. In traditional BigLaw, clients obsessively “count heads” in the conference room, and talented associates often get pulled onto other revenue-generating matters. At Wilkinson Stekloff, once the fee is set, the conversation ends.
“Whether there are three people in the room or eight, all they care about is that they have the best and brightest focused on their trial,” Wilkinson explained.
That freedom allows the firm to give junior lawyers and paralegals real exposure to trial work—experience that is increasingly hard to come by in hour-driven environments.
“Even if our associates and paralegals aren’t the ones standing up in court, the experience of seeing litigation through to trial is incredibly valuable,” Stekloff added.
Staying Lean While Handling Massive Cases
Antitrust and mass torts are notoriously document-heavy arenas where BigLaw traditionally dominates, but Wilkinson Stekloff has thrived in these spaces by embracing collaboration.
The firm frequently teams with larger practices—working alongside Arnold & Porter for Altria, Covington for the NFL, and sharing the defense table with Weil Gotshal, Sidley Austin, and Skadden in Microsoft’s high-profile FTC battle over the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Wilkinson notes that the firm is rarely sole counsel, which helps smooth partnerships. “Nobody thinks we’re going to steal their long-term counseling, regulatory, or corporate work. We don’t do that. So it’s easier to partner with us.”
Evolution Over a Decade
In the firm’s early years, roughly 75% of matters involved late-stage trial drops. Today, most engagements begin earlier in the dispute lifecycle. The shift partly stems from lessons learned during the pandemic’s trial drought, when the firm leaned into strategic advisory work, and partly from clients’ renewed appreciation for trial-ready lawyers.
“We’re now there at the outset to identify trial themes and strategies early on,” Stekloff said. “So no matter who handles discovery, the trial narrative carries through. We think that’s better for clients overall.”
Some founding partners have moved on, including Alexandra Walsh, who discovered during the pandemic that her passion lay on the plaintiff side. Wilkinson and Stekloff say the changes largely came down to people figuring out what they truly wanted.
Both insist they could never return to BigLaw life. “It sounds great to start a boutique, and it has been for us,” Wilkinson reflected.
The pandemic tested the model—particularly the lack of trials—but the culture held. Stekloff admits the biggest early headaches weren’t legal; they were the mundane realities of running a small business: finding office space, sorting health insurance, and setting up a 401(k).
Looking ahead, the firm’s second decade focuses on building an institutional reputation that outlasts any individual. The model has built-in challenges—no guaranteed repeat business when clients hope they never face another bet-the-company crisis again. Yet loyal clients often return.
“Usually, clients do find ways to come back to us,” Stekloff noted dryly, “because they end up having more problems than they wish.”
For litigators weary of the billable-hour treadmill and hungry for a model that prioritizes trial excellence, client certainty, and real professional development, Wilkinson Stekloff’s way of doing things differently is a compelling case of what can be done to the benefit of lawyers and clients alike.
