A partner in the Litigation Department, Beth A. Wilkinson focuses her practice on general litigation and has built a reputation as one of the country's most talented and respected litigators.

Ms. Wilkinson has amassed a broad range of experience from the courtroom to the boardroom, with particular emphasis in white-collar criminal defense, internal investigations, product liability and complex civil litigation. She has defended Fortune 500 companies in some of the most business-critical litigations in recent memory.

Recent Engagements Include Representing:

• Pfizer, as lead counsel, in achieving three consecutive jury trial victories in product liability litigation relating to the hormone therapy drug Prempro.
• Philip Morris USA in one of the company’s first lights class actions set for trial.
• Maximus in potential claims related to the settlement of Federal False Claim Act allegations for administrative and operational support to the District of Columbia Child & Family Services Agency regarding Medicaid payments.
• The CEO of a biotechnology company in a DOJ investigation.

Professional History:

Ms. Wilkinson joined Paul, Weiss after serving as the executive vice-president, general counsel, and corporate secretary at Fannie Mae. Prior to her in-house position at the mortgage giant, Ms. Wilkinson spent eight years as co-chair of the white-collar crime practice group in a major Washington law firm.

Prior to private practice, Ms. Wilkinson was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where she prosecuted numerous cases. In 1995, she was a counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, the principal deputy of the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, when she was asked to be a special attorney to the U.S. attorney general in U.S. v. McVeigh & Nichols. Ms. Wilkinson was instrumental in securing the final verdicts against the two men, delivering the closing arguments that resulted in a death sentence for McVeigh, and the summation that led to the conviction of Nichols. After prosecuting U.S. v. McVeigh & Nichols, she became the only two-time recipient of the Department of Justice’s highest award.

Ms. Wilkinson's legal career began in the U.S. Army, where she attained the rank of captain and served as an assistant to the general counsel of the Army for Intelligence & Special Operations from 1987 to 1991. In 1990, she was appointed as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida to assist with the prosecution of U.S. v. Manuel Noriega.

Recognition:

Her work has garnered her national recognition, and her opinions are sought by numerous television news programs and respected magazines and journals. Her insights have been sought by any number of high-profile television programs, such as NBC's Today show, Nightline, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Face the Nation and Good Morning America, and a variety of magazines and journals including The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer and the Legal Times.

Ms. Wilkinson was recently recognized by the 2011 Legal 500 as a “leading trial lawyer” and by her peers for The Best Lawyers in America in white collar criminal defense. She is ranked in Chambers USA 2011 & 2010 for White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, noted for being “an excellent trial lawyer.” In 2010 she was named as one of The National Law Journal's "Winning" litigators for her victory for Pfizer Inc. in a lawsuit relating to the hormone replacement therapy drug Prempro and as one of "Washington’s Most Influential Women Lawyers" by the same publication.

Pro Bono:

Ms. Wilkinson is active in a variety of pro bono and community activities as a member of the board of directors of Equal Justice Works. She has been particularly active in the death penalty reform movement, serving as the co-chairman of the Constitution Project's Death Penalty Initiative. Ms. Wilkinson has testified before both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on death penalty issues and speaks frequently to groups around the country about her work on the McVeigh trial and issues surrounding the imposition of the death penalty.