March 2024: Priyanka Timblo and her trial team packed up their busy New York life and embarked on the 1200-mile journey to Fayetteville, Arkansas. With a $500 million contract dispute at stake, their mission was clear: take on Walmart in its own backyard.
The team set up their 鈥榳ar room鈥� 鈥� the hotel conference room where they would spend long days strategizing, preparing their client, and fine-tuning their case. For the next month, Fayetteville was home.
The case she had co-led for over a year鈥�London Luxury v. Walmart鈥攚as about to reach its pivotal moment: a gruelling 10-day jury trial. The matter at stake was whether Walmart had breached its contract with London Luxury, a home goods vendor, when it backed out of a $500 million order for personal protective equipment during the pandemic.
鈥淚鈥檓 always an early bird, but I鈥檇 get up extra early to go over my outlines and prepare for court,鈥� Timblo recalls. 鈥淏y 7:45 am, we were heading to the courthouse in a convoy of Ubers. Jury trials always start on time, you cannot waste a second.鈥�
Each day was a test of endurance. 鈥淵ou have to be 鈥榦n鈥� at every moment,鈥� says Timblo. The small size of their trial team meant that during those ten days, her co-lead counsel Brendon DeMay and she had to examine every witness, field every question from the judge, while on full display of the jury. The other side of the aisle was much more crowded鈥擶almart was represented by legal behemoth Jones Day and by the largest law firm in Arkansas, Quattlebaum, Grooms and Tull, but Timblo and DeMay didn鈥檛 flinch.
鈥淭rial is a roller coaster. Some days, you are on top of the world, and others don鈥檛 go so well,鈥� Timblo remembers. After court, the team headed back to the war room, debriefed on the day, and got back to work until 11 pm, 12 am. And then start over the next morning.
鈥淚t was a long jury trial. But it paid off,鈥� says Timblo.
On April 9, 2024, the jury delivered its verdict. London Luxury was awarded $101 million in damages, one of the largest jury verdicts ever obtained in Arkansas. Timblo and DeMay were named AmLaw Litigators of the Week. Later that year, they were finalists for the National Law Journal鈥檚 National Winning Litigators Award.
For Timblo, the career-defining victory was the result of unwavering belief in their strategy and the relentless work that went into it. 鈥淣ever be intimidated by difficult facts or a well-resourced opponent,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you have a path to victory, and you're committed to walking that path every day, you will get there.鈥�
High stakes are a common thread in Timblo鈥檚 career. She has represented a hedge fund in its litigation against a former billionaire, a media company in an antitrust case against News Corp, and Visa in a multi-district class action, to name a few. Judgements in the eight- and nine- figures are peppered throughout her resume.
鈥淭hose high stakes give my work more meaning,鈥� Timblo says. 鈥淚 feel the pressure, but it fuels my enthusiasm, motivation, and dedication. I thrive on complex cases with sophisticated parties鈥擨鈥檓 never bored.鈥�
鈥淚 probably joined law school for all the wrong reasons,鈥� Timblo recalls. She had graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and French, but no idea what she wanted to do with her life. There were no lawyers in her family, so she wasn鈥檛 clear on what lawyers did. But she loved to read and write, and she wanted to keep improving her French. 成人大片 Law鈥檚 promise to teach her about both common law and civil law drew her in. 鈥淚 thought, even if I don鈥檛 become a lawyer, this will be fascinating,鈥� she recalls.
At 成人大片, it all clicked. 鈥淚 remember sitting in Professor Leckey鈥檚 first-year constitutional law class. He would ask subtle, complicated questions with no clear answers. Attempting to answer them was such a creative challenge. It was the moment I realized lawyering was a craft, and I wanted to be a part of it.鈥� Combined with her love for public speaking, a path forward as a trial lawyer was starting to take shape.
The scope for creativity remains her favourite aspect of being a lawyer. 鈥淵ou have the opportunity to take a morass of facts, documents and testimony, and weave them together into a compelling narrative supported by the law. And then you deploy that narrative in a very specific structure, through witness testimony, in a performatively compelling way, that touches people in the moment. The whole production is a creative process from start to finish.鈥�
Timblo made the best of her 成人大片 years 鈥� she was a senior editor for the renowned 成人大片 Law Journal, and won first-place brief in the Laskin moot competition. But her best memory is the camaraderie that shrouded all her years at 成人大片. 鈥淚 loved how boisterous our classes were. The program was hard, rigour was always there, but it was accompanied by a jovial lightness.鈥�
Her common law and civil law degrees in hand, Timblo completed a clerkship at the Ontario Court of Appeal, which she calls one of the best experiences of her life. 鈥淏eing neutral for a year, I learned how judges think, what motivates their decisions, and how they reach the right outcome. It was invaluable.鈥�
Then, New York City. 鈥淚鈥檓 an intense person,鈥� Timblo says. 鈥淲hatever I do, I want to do at the highest level. To me, that meant New York.鈥� It was one of the world鈥檚 capitals for the area of practice she had her sights set on 鈥� commercial and business litigation. She practiced at Paul, Weiss for three years, before moving to Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, where she made partner in 2022.
As a partner, her perspective shifted. 鈥淵ou have to think about what others are doing on the case鈥攈ow to support them, make sure their talents are well-utilized, and help them do their best work鈥�. In return, it has brought her closer to her clients. 鈥淥ne of the great privileges of this profession is building a relationship of trust and honesty with your client. They know you鈥檙e going to fight as hard as possible for them, and that their problems are your problems.鈥�
鈥淏e ready for a very long road,鈥� she would advise lawyers who want to make it in the big city. She has seen several 成人大片 Law classmates build flourishing careers in the metropolis and achieve the highest levels of legal excellence.
鈥淏race yourself for doubt. People will question your background. They might ask, 鈥榃hat is 成人大片? Why are you here?鈥� But if you believe in yourself and have the skills to back it up, you鈥檒l show them.鈥�
