Bio

David Oganesyan

David Oganesyan is a trial lawyer with Trial Lawyers for Justice, where he represents people whose lives have been permanently changed by preventable harm and whose stories deserve to be heard in a jury trial.

David is part of a new generation of trial lawyers committed to protecting the constitutional right to trial by jury. He believes the courtroom remains one of the few places where an ordinary person can stand on equal ground with powerful corporations, institutions, and insurance companies. To David, the civil justice system works best when ordinary citizens are trusted to decide what is right and what accountability requires.

A lifelong Californian and the first lawyer in his family, David earned his law degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego. While in law school, he competed on the school’s trial team, received the Distinguished Advocate Award, and graduated cum laude.

For David, this work is not about case files or medical records alone. Those documents rarely capture the full impact of a loss. A serious injury can change the direction of a person’s life, their relationships, their future, and even their sense of identity. David understands that giving human loss a voice in the courtroom is one of the most important responsibilities of a trial lawyer.

Bio

Henry Peacor

Henry Peacor is a national trial lawyer who represents the most vulnerable against the most powerful. He is licensed to practice law in California, Iowa and Washington and practices law in other jurisdictions via pro hac vice.

Henry has been trying cases since the beginning of his career.  He is one of the youngest trial lawyers ever to be admitted to The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), which is an invitation only organization of the finest trial lawyers and judges in America.

Henry was recently recognized as the 2023 Trial Lawyer of the Year for Ventura County.

Henry separates himself from other lawyers by spending quality time with his clients and their families. He believes that this is the only way to truly understand a person’s pain and suffering and what they go through on a daily basis. His ethos is simple: the human story of a person’s injury and how it impacts their life goes far beyond what is contained in medical records and corporate reports. A person is more than just a file number or a piece of paper. By spending time with his clients, Henry is able to become their voice at trial and translate their human losses into language that jurors can understand.

Henry is no stranger to the impact negligence can have on a person’s life. Henry’s father was tragically killed in a rear-end car crash. The magnitude of the loss of his father is difficult to put into words.  Suffice it to say that the memory of his father is something that Henry carries with him and it serves as motivation and a constant reminder of the impact that negligence can have on a person’s life. 

Henry is known for trying and winning tough cases, often on very little notice. He sincerely believes that the fundamental right to a jury trial is what sets our country apart from any other country in the world because real everyday people get to take their heart and soul, their humanity, everything that they are, and make real decisions about the most important things.

Henry’s mission is to continue his service as a trial lawyer and help educate other lawyers who are willing to learn and commit to improving our civil justice system. Henry teaches trial skills alongside Nick Rowley and Courtney Rowley as one of the lead faculty members at the Trial By Human program.

Bio

Dominic Pechota

Dominic is a seasoned trial lawyer who handles cases nationwide. With 21 years of civil trial practice, he serves as the managing partner of the firm’s Iowa and Minneapolis offices.

In 2025, Dominic obtained a $700,000 settlement for a client who sustained serious hand and facial injuries after tripping over a hazardous entryway at a rural Minnesota bar, despite a .217 BAC. In 2022, he secured two fully collectible excess-policy jury verdicts: a $962,500 verdict in Charles City, nearly four times State Farm’s policy limit, and a $457,476 verdict in Iowa City for a client with a healed, nonsurgical compression fracture, exceeding the top pre-trial offer by more than six times.

Also in 2022, Dominic and his partner, Nick Rowley, secured a $10 million settlement for the family of a migrant worker who died after being engulfed in soybeans at an Iowa grain facility that violated OSHA regulations. Previously, in 2016, Dominic and partner Rod Ritner obtained a $1.2 million verdict against Farm Bureau Property & Casualty, the largest civil injury verdict in Winneshiek County history. Over the past nine years, Dominic has secured more than $125 million in collected recoveries for personal injury and medical malpractice clients.

Dominic earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, receiving dual degrees in English and Political Science. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he completed a judicial externship with the Honorable Ronald E. Longstaff, former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Dominic is admitted to practice in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, and has been granted special admission in Arkansas, Missouri, West Virginia, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Illinois. He previously served on the Board of Governors for the Iowa Association of Justice.

Born in Martin, South Dakota, and raised in Rapid City, Dominic enjoys coaching youth basketball, golfing, and fishing in his spare time. He is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Indian Tribe.

Bio

Kelly Popkin

Kelly Popkin became a civil rights lawyer because she believes the law should protect people from abuse, not shield those who wield power without accountability. Throughout her career, she has represented individuals facing some of the most severe forms of government and institutional misconduct, from transgender women subjected to violence in prison, to people wrongfully convicted and incarcerated, to protesters and immigrant communities whose constitutional rights have been violated. Her work is driven by a commitment to ensuring that every person, regardless of status or circumstance, is treated with dignity under the law.

Kelly has built her civil rights practice around taking on difficult cases against powerful institutions. She has litigated cases across the country involving police brutality, wrongful convictions, unconstitutional prison conditions, disability discrimination, LGBTQ+ rights, and violations of constitutional protections. Kelly has worked at multiple national nonprofits and law firms, where she helped secure significant victories for incarcerated individuals and other vulnerable populations. She has argued multiple precedential appeals in federal courts, participated in groundbreaking civil rights litigation, and helped obtain justice for clients whose voices had too often been ignored.

Among her victories is an $8 million federal jury verdict for a Massachusetts man who spent nearly sixteen years in prison after police fabricated evidence, suppressed exculpatory information, and helped secure a wrongful conviction. The verdict held officers accountable for misconduct that stole years from her client’s life and underscored the vital role civil rights litigation plays in exposing governmental wrongdoing.

A graduate of Harvard Law School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Kelly brings both legal and public health perspectives to her advocacy. Whether representing an individual client or pursuing broader systemic reform, she approaches each case with the belief that litigation can be a powerful tool for accountability and social change. She is proud to stand alongside clients who challenge injustice and fight for a more equitable legal system.

Bio

Erin L. Powers

Erin Powers is a dedicated trial attorney known for her compassion, sharp legal analysis, and relentless advocacy. With nearly two decades of courtroom experience, Erin has secured landmark verdicts and settlements in cases involving wrongful death, medical malpractice, toxic exposure, and catastrophic injury.

Erin graduated in the top ten percent of her class at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, in 2006, where she honed her trial skills as a member of the nationally recognized Byrne Trial Advocacy Team. During law school, she clerked for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office as a certified law clerk, handling more than 30 juvenile and adult adjudications and earning recognition for her courtroom advocacy.

Following graduation, Erin worked as a litigation associate at a Los Angeles law firm specializing in public law and complex civil litigation. She distinguished herself as both a city prosecutor and litigator, developing the strong trial foundation that would define her career.

In 2010, Erin relocated to Colorado, where she continued practicing law after being admitted to the state bar. She quickly made an impact as a county attorney, taking the lead in a complex federal civil rights case headed for trial within her first six months. Over the next six years, she advised the county sheriff’s office, built a reputation as a skilled trial lawyer, and handled high-stakes state and federal litigation.

Erin’s career is marked by high-profile results and a reputation as a fearless advocate for individuals and families harmed by corporate negligence, unsafe products, and reckless behavior.

Representative Results

• $110.8 million verdict for wrongful death in a road rage incident (San Bernardino, CA)

• $63 million verdict against Chevron Corporation for toxic exposure leading to multiple myeloma (California)

• $26 million settlement for a toddler permanently scarred by unsafe chlorine levels at a Myrtle Beach resort

• $18.5 million confidential medical malpractice settlement (Oregon)

• $15 million shop wrongful death settlement (Indiana)

• $25 million confidential post-verdict settlement

Publications & Media

• Daily Journal: $63 Million Jury Award for a Man Who Developed Cancer 
• Herald Standard: Chevron Executive Questioned by Erin Powers
• Inland Empire Law Weekly: Jury finds $110 million verdict in officer-caused fatal crash

When not at work, you will find Erin camping, off-roading, and exploring with her husband and two kids.  

Bio

Regina Powers

Regina Powers is a civil rights attorney and client-centered advocate who fights for people harmed by abuses of power and systemic neglect inside jails and prisons. Regina brings a relentless commitment to holding government agencies accountable for the suffering inflicted on people in custody and for families whose loved ones are killed or seriously harmed behind bars.

Before joining Trial Lawyers for Justice, she clerked for a federal judge in Kentucky and litigated civil rights and police misconduct cases at Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP in New York. There, she helped secure the largest civil rights verdict in the Northern District of New York for the family of a man whom corrections officers beat to death in prison. She also contributed to the largest pre-verdict settlement with New York City for a man who suffered a hypoxic brain injury in jail, won certification of a class action challenging racially biased marijuana policing, and prevailed in a federal appeal establishing constitutional liability for jail suicides during drug withdrawal.

Regina’s dedication to advocating for incarcerated people and their families began while she was a student at Harvard Law School, where she represented clients in parole proceedings through the Prison Legal Assistance Project, helping secure the release of individuals serving life sentences. She graduated summa cum laude from Kentucky Wesleyan College.