Megan G. Demshki

Plaintiff's Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death

Riverside

As the managing partner of Aitken Aitken Cohn's Riverside office, Megan Demshki is committed to representing individual plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits.

She has handled some class actions, such as helping bring in the $95 million settlement with shipping companies and a pipeline company over the 25,000-gallon oil spill offshore near Huntington Beach. East Meet Wests Excursions v. Amplify Energy, 8:21-cv-01725 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 18, 2021).

But "what I'm most passionate about is representing individuals and telling their unique stories," Demshki said.

In January, she brought in settlements in two unusual cases. She obtained more than $1 million from a doctor who was overprescribing pain medications to a driver who then hit and killed a bicyclist while high drugs. Kreza v. Pham, 30-2019-01118696 (O.C. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 16, 2019).

She also obtained $1.5 million from the gas station operator that sold a bottle of gas to a man who used it to burn down a Studio City recording studio, killing two people and injuring others. Selkin v. City of Los Angeles, 19STCV15125 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 30, 2019).

Demshki talks passionately about improving her clients' lives. For instance, in one of her well-known cases, she and her partner garnered an $11 million settlement from the California Republican Party on behalf of a man who was paralyzed in an auto accident with an unlicensed driver working for a legislative candidate. Ruehle v. Chavez, 30-2017-00912044 (O.C. Super. Ct., filed May 19, 2020).

Before the settlement, her client was confined to the small area of his house that he could access. "With the proceeds from this resolution, he was able to buy a home that has been adapted to meet his needs," Demshki said.

Another client went to the hospital for a simple breast biopsy. But she was intubated into her stomach rather than her lungs and so suffered severe brain damage. Sauceda v. Riverside University Health System-Medical Center, RIC2000096 (Riv. Super. Ct., filed Jan. 8, 2020).

With her $12 million settlement, the woman was able to move from a care facility back home with her four children. "She has the round-the-clock care," Demshki said. "And thankfully due to therapy she's now able to speak a bit and eat a bit."

A couple of years ago, she and Wylie Aitken won a $1.325 million settlement from the city of San Diego for the two adult daughters of a man who died when his motorcycle hit a bad pothole near La Jolla. Barioni v. California, 37-2015-00033388 (S.D. Super. Ct., filed Oct. 2, 2015).

The nighttime accident took place on "a notorious roadway with a long history of complaints and frequent patches that really compromised the roadway." Since the lawsuit, it's been repaved.

"That's one of the greatest parts of what we do," Demshki said. "We see parking lots restructured, we see roadways changed, we see intersections changed ... all kinds of roadway improvements that hopefully will ensure that someone else doesn't suffer the same tragedy as our clients."

-- Don DeBenedictis