WYLIE A. Aitken, a founding partner and CEO of the firm Aitken, Aitken & Cohn in Santa Ana, California, 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 Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Among his court victories is 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.

Aitken won a $55 million verdict, the largest ever in the U.S. for personal injury, for a little girl now a quadriplegic and dependent on a ventilator. He also won a confidential settlement with a national fast food restaurant when a young boy fell from the crossbars of a playground, resulting in a traumatic brain injury which will require 24-hour lifetime care.

A second-generation Irish American whose mother’s family hails from Co. Cork, Aitken is married with three children. He is a founding member and the current president of the Celtic Bar Association.

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