Wilkinson Stekloff

Rakesh has substantial experience litigating complex and antitrust matters in trial and appellate courts throughout the country.

Over the past several years, Rakesh has successfully resolved some of the biggest antitrust matters in history. Those include obtaining full judgment for the NFL in post-trial proceedings in a $21 billion challenge to the NFL’s media model, defeating the FTC’s challenge to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and negotiating a groundbreaking and innovative settlement to end decades of litigation over the NCAA’s compensation rules.

Beyond antitrust, Rakesh has helped deliver high-profile victories to clients in a wide array of industries and subject matter areas, including defamation, financial services, products liability, and has served as lead or co-lead counsel in over a dozen class actions or MDLs.

Before joining the firm, Rakesh was a Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel in the Office of White House Counsel, where he provided legal advice and strategic counseling to the Obama Administration on its domestic policy agenda. He also helped to develop and implement the government’s litigation strategy in cases arising under the Affordable Care Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In recognition of his diverse practice, Rakesh is ranked by Chambers and Partners in both sports and antitrust law. He has been selected as a "Winning Litigator" and "Rising Star" by the National Law Journal and named a Sports and Betting "MVP" and "Rising Star" by Law360.  He was also chosen as one of Bloomberg Law’s “40 Under 40,” and Benchmark Litigation has identified him as a “Litigation Star” and selected him to its “40 & Under Hotlist” five years in a row. Legal 500 has recommended him in its national Antitrust and Sports categories, and he has also regularly appeared on Lawdragon’s top lawyers list, including “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” “500 Leading Litigators in America,” and “500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers.”

Rakesh began his career by clerking for Justice Elena Kagan on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.