EDITOR’S COLUMN
I love stories. As soon as someone says, “Let me tell you about the time…” they have my full attention.
About a year ago, I decided I wanted to make a video series that captured attorney stories about justice and law in the Inland Empire. I ran the idea by the visual arts professionals at McCune Legal Group, which funds Follow Our Courts, and the video director, Samy Pioneer, agreed to create it.
I made a small list of lawyers and judges in both counties who would have been part of interesting changes and cases they could tell me about.
I found people who are either experts on local history or have been part of it. In one case, our interviewee has been practicing law here since the Beatles were together. Another is a history maker in his own right, following the example set by his history-making father.
The video we’re releasing today is the first one we filmed, of Megan Demshki of Aitken Aitken Cohn in Riverside.
Demshki doesn’t have the 30- to 50-year history practicing law here that most of the names I wrote have, but she’s interesting and I really wanted to meet her. She was born and raised in Riverside to parents who were small business owners, growing and packing citrus. In college she worked on U.S.-Russia relations through a presidential commission.
And then she became a lawyer, and it’s like she was loaded into a catapult on the first day of her career. She’s had a case that established precedent, she’s been in leadership roles in legal organizations, she’s won awards.
When I sat down with her, she was about to get the Streetfighter of the Year award from the Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire (of which she was immediate past president) for a case she won through tenacity and cleverness. She was a finalist to be named the Consumer Attorneys of California’s Consumer Attorney of the Year for the same case.
She told me all about the case, and also the one that set a precedent, both involving terrible collisions where a motorcycle driver was injured. I was determined to release it before April ended, because it’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
As I write this, she is about to be named Lawyer of the Year by the Riverside County Bar Association Barristers.
Since I interviewed Demshki, we have filmed six more interviews with local attorneys and judges. We will be releasing them monthly as we continue to film more.
These stories are exactly what I was hoping for. They are all different – shocking, funny or inspiring. They are all interesting.
I’m learning about unexpected changes, incredible people and big cases.
I hope you enjoy them. If you are or know of someone I should interview, please let me know.
