Wylie A. Aitken

From multimillion-dollar settlements to an appellate court reversal of a summary judgment, Aitken's recent victories continue a tradition of bringing a personal approach to helping victims.

"I'm just a symbol of an incredible office that does a lot of exciting things," said Aitken, whose nine-attorney firm includes his daughter and two sons.

"The firm itself could not be busier," he continued. "The old saying, 'It takes a village?' We've got a whole village working very hard here."

Aitken secured $2 million in March for a high school student struck by a car, and the firm scored $4 million out of a $10 million settlement in January for another teenager injured in a school bus crash. Then in April, the 4th District Court of Appeal gave another major case new life by reversing an Orange County Superior Court summary judgment. The published decision draws a distinction about what can be considered a workplace, a key issue in litigation against employers. Sumrall et al. v. Modern Alloys Inc., 2017 DJDAR 3781.

"It just highlights that often times we not only handle cases at the trial level, but we help shape the law at the appellate level," Aitken said.

Aitken and his wife, Bette, are longtime philanthropists who support arts, culture and history, including Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Mission San Juan Capistrano. He chairs Chapman University's Board of Trustees, and he's helping start the Orange County Justice Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing legal resources to immigrants.

His interests combined nicely in May when a former client made national headlines. Aitken a few years ago secured a substantial settlement on behalf of Marty O'Connor, a young man who became a quadriplegic from a fall. Aitken also wrote a letter of recommendation for O'Connor to Chapman, and when O'Connor graduated last month with a master's in business administration, "we surprised his mother with an honorary master's degree" for attending every class with him.

"There's always a story after the case," Aitken said.

Chapman's Fowler School of Law presented Aitken with an honorary doctor of laws degree last month. His support of the 20-year-old school includes a modern courtroom built in his name. Philanthropy and education are part of what drives his work as an attorney.

"We're not just people who get hired to make money and have successful careers," he said. "We're very much involved in a profession."

— Meghann M. Cuniff