As a U.S. prosecutor, John Hueston grilled corporate execs, most famously Ken Lay of Enron. Now, as a partner and white collar crime specialist with Irell & Manella in Newport Beach and L.A., Hueston is defending another vilified chieftan,former Countrywide Financial boss Angelo Mozilo. Hueston is Mozilo’s co-lead attorney against SEC civil fraud and insider trading charges, as well as in a related criminal investigation …
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a $55 million award won by Santa Ana trial lawyer Wylie Aitken (Aitken Aitken Cohn). He says it is the largest personal injury award ever against the federal government and the largest ever in Orange County. Costa Mesa’s Leilani Gutierrez, now 11, has been paralyzed since 2002 when a car driven by a civilian Army employee ran a red light and crashed into her mom’s SUV. Aitken was assisted on the case by son and partner Darren Aitken. Their cut is 25%, or almost $14 million …
Al Hensling of United American Mortgage in Irvine says “the ribbing has begun” over the similarity of his name to that of alleged Tustin real estate fraudster Mark Alan Helsing: “There should be no confusion with the famous vampire hunter Van Helsing, as well” …
Hans Keirstead’s team at UCI, working with Menlo Park-based Geron Corp., are the first researchers to win FDA approval to test an embryonic stem cell treatment,for spinal cord injuries,in humans. But Keirstead said on “Inside OC” that he will gladly stop using the controversial stem cells if “very exciting” research,including some under way at UCI,results in processes that give ordinary (and non-controversial) skin cells the properties of embryonic stem cells. Keirstead says he has “every faith” that such adult stem cells will someday be the research medium of choice, rendering moot the moral and religious issues raised by the use of stem cells from human embryos. But he said it is “too early” to abandon embryonic stem cells. How quickly has President Obama lifted President Bush’s restrictions on stem-cell research? Keirstead said the FDA had put his spinal cord project on hold for eight months; two days after Obama took office, it got approved …
Boyish-looking Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle has turned 50 …
Correction: Gary Delsohn is VP, not senior VP, with Irvine Company …
Sometimes confrontational OC Employees Association boss Nick Berardino is being widely complimented for his role in the innovative agreement with the OC supes that creates a retirement option for employees and potential savings for the cash-strapped county. (County workers who skip the current defined-benefit plan in favor of a riskier 401(k) hybrid would get more take-home pay.) Berardino says he hopes this “collaborative approach” leads to other “private sector models which we can introduce to the public sector.” If better government results, “then the crisis will have been a blessing.”
