By Donna Bunce
Madeline Gomez had been Carol Penn’s hairdresser for years when one day she handed Carol a post-it note with Ashleigh Aitken’s name on it and suggested her son, Michael, contact Ashleigh for a date.
“We both had our hair cut by Madeline,” Michael explains, “and she thought we would be perfect for each other.”
Ashleigh was a little leary. “I had never went on a blind date, but Madeline vouched for him.”
Ashleigh says there were subtle clues that hinted she should take a chance.
“Madeline went to Garden Grove High School with my parents, her daughter was my dear friend and tennis partner and she had known me my whole life. Plus, I never thought he would actually call.”
When the courtship began, Ashleigh was a law student and Michael was working in his family 3rd-generation produce business.
“I thought he was smart and funny, with good values.” Ashleigh says.
Michael’s take was a little more direct.
“It was love at first sight for me. I just knew,” he says.
Six months into dating, Ashleigh asked Michael, then 23, when he saw himself getting married. When he answered when he was about 30, she quipped.
“I hope you meet someone really nice,” and they both laughed.
Michael had already intended to call Ashleigh’s father, Wylie Aitken, to ask him to lunch to ask for her hand in marriage. That was March, 2001, and Wylie wasn’t free until June for a lunch date. Wylie, a top trial lawyer proved to have a very busy schedule. Chagrined, Michael had no choice but to wait.
As it turned out, by June, the two had been dating a year and Ashleigh suggested they go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Ashleigh told Michael they were scheduled for a historic bus tour of the city, which was really a surprise trip via small plane to the Grand Canyon, which Michael had always wanted to see.
Michael had been looking at rings but didn’t know how to get Ashleigh’s size. Shopping in a Hopi Indian store at the Grand Canyon, they picked out Hopi rings to commemorate their one-year anniversary. Michael was happy because he now had Ashleigh’s ring size.
Moments later, the couple visited Rainbow Ridge. When it started raining and everyone ran inside, Ashleigh recalls,
“I proposed to him, getting down on one knee.”
Michael responded, “No, no, no,” to which Ashleigh thought he was turning her down. It was then that he explained he was planning on asking her to marry him the next weekend, after his three-month-long wait for lunch with her father.
The lunch proved positive with an “of course” from Wylie, and that night Michael proposed to Ashleigh on the patio of Orange Hill Restaurant.
A Little Background
Ashleigh and Michael are both Orange County products–Ashleigh was born at St. Jude’s in Fullerton, and Michael was born in Orange. Ashleigh grew up in Anaheim with parents Wylie and Bette Aitken and two older brothers, Darren and Christopher. She played soccer and tennis and loved horses, having one herself. She worked at Coco’s and was a graduate of Rosary High School, an all-girls Catholic school in Fullerton.
Michael’s parents, Mike and Carol Penn, were both school teachers at Dominguez High School in Compton – his father taught government and his mother French. When Michael’s grandfather had trouble with his health, his father took over the family business, called Sam’s Produce Inc. in 1976. Michael, who had an older sister, Alexis, attended Foothill High School in Tustin, where he was captain of the tennis team.
Ashleigh is a 2002 graduate of Boston College,where she received a B.A. in both secondary education and history, and was an All-American rugby player. She taught history and current events at North Quincy High School, then worked for three years in Washington, D.C. for then-Democratic leader Richard A. Gephardt, before returning to California to attend law school at USC’s Gould School of Law.
Michael graduated cum laude in 1998 from UC Santa Barbara with a B.A. in International Relations Political Science. He studied abroad at Sophia University, a Jesuit university in Tokyo, Japan in 1996-97, which led him to work for a year as an international humanities specialist for Toyo Corporation after graduating. Returning to Orange County, he worked at Sam’s Produce as vice president and director of sales and marketing for two years before entering Chapman University School of Law.
The Wedding and Honeymoon
Ashleigh, who was just graduating from law school at USC when they were planning the wedding, had to take two months off to study for the bar, so Michael stepped in to help with the wedding plans, attending the tasting with her parents Bette and Wylie. The happy couple married on August 10, 2002 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tustin, Michael’s church. Ashleigh was Catholic, so they made it a combined service with both religions represented. The 470 guests gathered at The Ritz-Carlton to celebrate, with the newlyweds honeymooning in Hawaii for a week.
Michael planned some romantic touches the first two evenings of the honeymoon, but all Ashleigh could do was sleep. Studying for the bar and the wedding had taken its toll! However, she did plan tee times every morning of the trip (Ashleigh is an avid golfer and introduced Michael to the game). On the third day, after they played 18 holes and she proposed playing another 18, Michael put his foot down, saying he hated golf and had lied to her about liking it. By 1:30 p.m., they were by the pool with the first marital spat solved.
Ashleigh graduating from USC Gould School of Law in May, 2002 
Michael and Ashleigh on their wedding day, August 10 2002, at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel
A New Life with Careers and Children
The newly-married couple rented an apartment in Costa Mesa for two years while Michael finished law school. After traveling extensively, they decided that it was time to start a family. And, with that, they also decided to move to Anaheim to be close to both their families.
All three girls – Simone (11), Colette (9) and Violet (5) – have second names named after grandparents and a great grandparent. The girls attend the International School of Orange County in Orange and are fluent in French.
“We wanted our kids to be bilingual,” Ashleigh says.
Both Ashleigh and Michael worked full-time pursuing their law careers after the children were born, with the grandmothers taking babysitting roles.
Ashleigh and Michael are attorneys at Aitken Aitken & Cohn, where Ashleigh specializes in federal court cases involving complex business litigation and class actions, and Michael specializes in litigation involving major personal injury, wrongful death, products liability and government liability.
Before coming to Aitken Aitken & Cohn, Ashleigh was a civil litigator and a former federal prosecutor, where she put child predators, fraudsters and armed bank robbers behind bars. She was elected the 2015 president of the Orange County Bar Association, championing veteran’s rights and pro bono services for military and veteran families. She was 2016 President of the Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund, President of Orange County Women Lawyers, Vice-President of the Celtic Bar Association, Vice-President of the Hispanic Bar Association and was named Orange County Women Lawyers Attorney of the Year in 2011.
At Aitken Aitken & Cohn, Michael has been involved in high profile cases resulting in seven and eight figure results, including a case involving traumatic injuries to an elderly bicyclist suffered in a collision with a semi-tractor resulting in a nearly $6 million settlement. He also served as Chairman of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers Association Leadership Development Committee (2011–2013), President of the Warren J. Ferguson Inn of Court (2012–2013), and President of the Celtic Bar Association (2013–2014).
The honors are too numerous to mention, but suffice to say both Michael and Ashleigh have consistently been named many times as “Rising Stars” and “Super Lawyers” over the years. The Daily Journal named Michael one of “five associates to watch” in its statewide publication on January, 28, 2105, and he has been recognized by Best Lawyers In America since 2016.
After launching a pro bono lawsuit to block the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds, Ashleigh, an open space advocate, was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2012 to serve on the Orange County Fair Board. She served as Chairwoman in 2015 and oversaw the first public art installation on the property honoring Orange County’s agricultural migrant workers as well as the new veterans building, Heroes Hall. Named one of National Trial Lawyers “Top 40 Under 40” in 2012, she was also honored by the Girl Scouts of Orange County in 2013 at its Celebrate Leadership gala.
Ashleigh in court litigating a case. 
Michael and Ashleigh with, from left, Colette, Violet and Simone 
Three-year-old Ashleigh up to her ears in chocolate 
A very happy Michael at eighteen months. 
Penn Family in 1999, from left, Mike, Michael, Carol and Alexis. 
Celebrating their engagement in 2001 
Simone, left, and Colette, right, with newborn sister Violet, 2013 
Vacationing in Hawaii in 2018, from left, Colette, Ashleigh, Simone, Violet and Michael 
Ashleigh, center, with her daughters in Girl Scout Troop 3665. Simone is a Cadette, Colette a Junior and Violet a Daisy
“From the moment I met Ashleigh, I saw that she was beautiful, smart and strong. I was inspired by her fearlessness, but, not only that, she’s just fun to be around. At the end of the day, I’m the luckiest guy I know!” – Michael Penn
Giving Back
Giving back was part of their upbringing so doing so comes naturally.
“It is important for Michael and I to use our law degrees to provide representation to those who otherwise cannot afford it,” Ashleigh says. “We do a lot of pro bono work,” Michael adds.
The couple are generous supporters of arts and culture in Orange County, in particular Anaheim’s Chance Theatre and South Coast Repertory. Chapman University is also a recipient of their support. Michael is a member of the Board of Governors, and they chaired the school’s major scholarship fundraiser, Chapman Celebrates, in 2017. Michael has volunteered as attorney coach for Canyon High School’s Mock Trial Team since 2006, and Ashleigh is passionate about Girl Scouts and serves as troop leader for all three girls. She even stepped into the political arena this year to run for mayor of Anaheim, and says Michael was her best door-to-door canvasser.
The Happy Ending
The couple’s greatest joy is their children and family time at home. The family lives with an “arc of animals,” which includes two cats, a horse and a 125-pound tortoise.
“The chicken coup is on its way!” Ashleigh adds.
The big gift for Christmas was a dog–a Shorkie (a cross between a Shih Tzu and a Yorkshire Terrier). His name is Franklin Delano Dog, the “New Big Deal,” and he is smothered in love by everyone in the family.
It would be hard to find a couple better suited for each other.
“When I look back, I feel like I won the lottery,” Ashleigh says, “because Michael is the love of my life and my best friend. He supports me emotionally as well professionally. And, he’s romantic–he framed and gave me the post-it note Madeline gave him as an anniversary present.”
Penn Family in 1999, from left, Mike, Michael, Carol and Alexis. 
Franklin Delano Dog, the New Big Deal in the Aitken-Penn household. 
The Aitken family – Top Row-Gavin, Darren, Laurie, Wylie, Bette, Michael, Violet, Ashleigh, Chris, Maureen, Annalise; Bottom Row-Grace, Kylee, Colleen Colette, Simone, Shane, Tyler, Jack.
Michael says, “From the moment I met Ashleigh, I saw that she was beautiful, smart and strong. I was inspired by her fearlessness, but, not only that, she’s just fun to be around. At the end of the day, I’m the luckiest guy I know!”