Wylie A. Aitken
Wylie A. Aitken is founding partner and CEO of the firm Aitken♦Aitken♦Cohn in Santa Ana, California, and among the 2009 Irish 100. He was the youngest ever president in the history of the State Trial Bar and serves on the Federal Judicial Advisory Committee which recommends the appointment of federal district judges and U.S. attorneys.
Aitken received a JD from Marquette University in 1965 and was the recipient of Marquette's '04 Lifetime Achievement Award. Just recently, Federal Court Judge James V. Selna appointed him to be liaison to all State and other Federal actions regarding one of the largest MDL's in history, assigned to the Southern Division of the Central District Court of California. Aitken's numerous high profile, multimillion-dollar cases include a wrongful death action against Disneyland, after a dislodged metal cleat on a Disney sailing ship killed a man and disfigured his wife (the case led California to strengthen theme park safety regulations); a recent $55 million verdict, the largest ever against the USA for personal injury for a little girl, now a quadriplegic and dependent on a ventilator; and, a confidential settlement with a national fast food restaurant when a boy fell from the cross bars of a playground, resulting in a severe, traumatic brain injury, requiring 24-hour life care. A second-generation Irish American whose mother's family hails from County Cork, Aitken is married with three children. He is founding member and past president of the Celtic Bar Association.
References
- "Our Irish Legal 100, 2009.". Irish Voice, Irish America. 2009. p. 9. Retrieved 22 July 2010.