Megan Demshki  

In the decade since Megan G. Demshki started as a law clerk at the plaintiff-side litigation boutique Aitken Aitken Cohn, she’s made partner and been named to manage the firm’s new Riverside office. She specializes in personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death cases.

“I’ve always had a tendency to advocate for the underdog,” she said, recalling sticking up for first-grade classmates. “I’d pick other kids’ fights for them.”

At Chapman University and later at Chapman’s Fowler School of Law, she was active in student government and happened to meet firm founder Wylie A. Aitken, a member of the board of trustees. “He invited me to interview to see if I liked it,” Demshki said. “I got hooked.”

Demshki was born and raised in Riverside, so it seemed natural for her to move back when Aitken opened an office there. “It’s a privilege to serve the people here,” she said.

Demshki worked with law partner Christopher R. Aitken, one of the founder’s three children who work at the firm, as co-lead counsel to help secure a $38.5 million settlement for construction workers injured when part of a bridge over the 91 freeway in Corona collapsed in 2015. Gillespie v. Clark Construction Group et al., RIC1606486 (Riverside Co. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 17, 2017).

Five groups of plaintiffs were represented by separate counsel, giving Demshki the chance to work with lawyers from Robinson Calcagnie, Inc., Herzog, Yuhas, Ehrlich & Ardell, APC and others. “I loved the opportunity to collaborate with other firms to maximize the recovery for our clients,” she said.

The collapse and injuries happened as a 900-ton bridge deck was being lowered into place. “For that bridge to fail required a perfect storm of events, and the complexity of investigating and litigating that case caused many firms to shy away,” Demshki said. “We took over 150 depositions. We weren’t afraid of the fight. There was employee negligence and we developed a comprehensive liability strategy for the different defense groups.”

“We were fully prepared to take it to trial when the other side decided to settle,” she continued.

In another success, Demshki again was co-lead with Christopher Aitken in obtaining an $11 million settlement with the California Republican Party after successfully tying it to liability for a freeway crash caused by a paid campaign worker that paralyzed client Richard Ruhle. Ruehle v. Chavez, 30-2017-00091244 (O. Co. Super. Ct., filed March 30, 2017).

That outcome earned Demshki a Consumer Attorneys of Inland Empire Streetfighter of the Year award in 2022.

“I keep up with that family weekly,” Demshki said of her client and his loved ones. “He’s in a fully adapted home and receiving all the therapy he needs.”

–John Roemer