Edwin Aiwazian, 33, is a Glendale attorney who is hard working and passionate about what he does.

“It’s fascinating that you get one client who doesn’t have the resources or the money or a lot of power in society to stand up to an entire corporation and hold [the company] accountable [for their actions],” said Aiwazian.

He works primarily in class action law suits against major companies. He represents employees fighting illegal wage and hour’s suits.

He is involved in one of the more high profile cases against Circuit City, which is accused of unpaid overtime and missed meal breaks during a day of work.

Aiwazian was born and raised in Iran until he was 6 years old, when his family went to Austria as refugees for two years before arriving in America at the age of 8. Although he came at a young age he had trouble learning the English language.

“English is a very tough language,” he said. “It took me 15 years to learn the language to the point where I was speaking clearly and could be understood.”

He had quite an intersting life while in junior high. He is an eloquent lawyer now but he was a trouble maker then. During his time in middle school he was taking karate and he would fight other kids because he felt that he needed to practice on real people.

The administration was so scared that he would go all Jackie Chan on them that the principal assigned him a counselor who would accompany him at lunch. He would get his food and go back to detention after. He got suspended many times during junior high for his fighting.

His next stop was Glendale High School where he participated in sports and his social life was active. He wasn’t focused on studies while in high school as much as he was once he entered the uniersity level.

He applied and was accepted during his senior year to Pepperdine University where he double majored in natural sciences and communication. He chose communication to improve his still developing English. Once he finished his majors he would go on to attend Pepperdine Law School where he received his J.D.

At first he wanted to be either an eye or brain surgeon. So he worked at UCLA Medical Center Emergency Room for about a year. But while interning there he realized that this is not what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

Why is it that he became an attorney? “[I decided to become an attorney] because most of the job involves being as persuasive as possible,” he said. “You have to use knowledge from all different fields.” That is why he also majored in natural science.

Once he graduated from law school he went in to work for a law firm, Girardi and Keese in Los Angeles.

“I went to the best law firm I could possibly go to and worked for them and that experience allowed me to do what I do today,” he said. He credited his success at such a young age to Girardi and Keese.

In 2008 he decided to open up his own law firm, The Aiwazian Law Firm on Arden Avenue in Glendale. He decided to open up his own law firm to have a say in what kind of cases he would handle.

For Aiwazian this job is not about making a lot of money as it might be for most. “If money is the focus then I suggest go into corporate America, become a CEO and make $15 million a year,” he said.

Many lawyers that he worked alongside with and went to college with spoke about his work ethic above all and his dedication to what he does each and every day.

“Edwin Aiwazian is an outlier, normal rules don’t apply to him. He finds a way to get things done; he’s a hard worker as well,” said Douglas Han, an attorney at the R Rex Parris Law Firm in Lancaster.

Han also commented on his dedication to each and every case. “I get e-mails from Edwin at two or three in the morning on a case that we are working on,” he said.

Another attorney Alex Wheeler also emphasized Aiwazian’s work ethic saying that he gets emails from Aiwazian at four in the morning. Wheeler and he both worked on class action suits together.

Wheeler spoke about his life and had one last thing to say. “He dedicates his life into building his firm,” he said.

The Aiwazian Law Firm is located at 410 Arden Avenue #203, Glendale. You can contact him at [email protected] or by phone (818) 265-1020. Or visit www.Aiwazian.com.