Aileen Christensen

Aileen is driven by a sense of justice every day. She finds hope in advocating for her clients who have suffered catastrophic injuries and peace in getting them the relief that they deserve. She handles cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, work injuries, plant and refinery accidents, and offshore accidents.

Biography

Aileen grew up in Utah, got her PhD in New York, and ultimately moved to Texas to work at Arnold & Itkin and attend law school. During her time in academia, she presented her research at numerous conferences worldwide and published articles on works by George Sand and Paul Féval. In her dissertation, she argued that the fairies from medieval literature reappear in nineteenth-century novels. Fairies in the medieval tradition are the most intelligent and best-educated beings in the world. They appear as empresses of magical realms and the mistresses of fate. Most lawyers could only dream of that kind of power and skill. Indeed, in multiple medieval stories, fairies are the best advocates and the only ones capable of successfully arguing in tribunals for the release of humans in distress.

The literature that Aileen spent so many years studying is an inspiration to her as an advocate. Her years of intensive research and writing refined her skills. Her professors often noted that she had an eye for seeing evidence that others didn’t see. She has extensive experience crafting this evidence into compelling arguments that she believes in. She is detail-oriented and exacting in everything she does.

Now, in the legal profession, it is her great honor to use her hard-earned skills in fighting for her clients. Aileen will never forget the first time she went to a trial as a law clerk at Arnold & Itkin. The trial was a case of a young woman who was shot in her college apartment. This young woman was instantly paralyzed and suffered for several years before ultimately succumbing to her injuries. Before her death, the young woman was afraid that she would be forgotten. Of course, she will never be forgotten by her family and her team at Arnold & Itkin, but the trial team was able to do much more. As a result of the settlement in her case, her parents were able to name an auditorium at her college in her honor. They put up a plaque in the auditorium that will tell her story to generations of future college students. She will never be forgotten at the college she loved so much—where her experiences were so cruelly cut short. Aileen saw firsthand the profound importance and impact of the team’s work. The sweet young woman who did not live to see the trial of her case inspires Aileen each day to continue the fight on behalf of her clients.

Aileen similarly spent years working on a case involving the death of a platform worker. From the first time that she opened the file, she noted the egregious safety failures that caused the worker’s death. After years of hard work, the case went to trial. Aileen will never forget the reading of the verdict, where the jury unanimously found that the client’s father was 0% at fault for his own death. The jury held the company responsible for putting him in harm’s way and authorizing dangerous work. It was a privilege to be with the trial team and the client in that moment to see justice done.

The most recent trial Aileen attended with the trial team involved a deadly plant explosion and nine clients who had waited years for their day in court. Aileen was inspired by the deposition testimony in this case and worked tirelessly to obtain all the evidence necessary for trial. The team’s extraordinary effort resulted in a $91 million verdict.

Each of the cases mentioned above involved significant legal and factual hurdles. These are the type of cases that Aileen loves the most. When her clients have been wrongly made to suffer for the rest of their lives—due to devastating injuries and death—Aileen will never stop fighting for them. She perseveres with ingenuity and hard work no matter the obstacles. From her first day at Arnold & Itkin, Aileen saw this type of passion and dedication in her mentors and colleagues. She looks forward to the rest of her career alongside these admirable attorneys at Arnold & Itkin.