The Team Behind Your Success
Gor Mnatsakanyan, Esq.
Founder & Principal Attorney
Gor Mnatsakanyan founded Gor & Associates in 2012 and has led the firm ever since. Over more than a decade of practice, he has worked across corporate law, products liability, personal injury, healthcare regulatory compliance, and human rights law - a range that gives him a wide lens on how legal problems actually get solved.
Gor studied Philosophy at UCLA before earning his Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School. Alongside running Gor & Associates, he serves as Chief Legal Counsel for a nationwide pharmacy corporation, where he advises on corporate, regulatory, and compliance matters at scale.
As managing partner, Gor stays involved in both strategy and day-to-day execution across the firm's litigation and pre-litigation departments. Every case that comes through the door is ultimately his responsibility, and major decisions - including whether a case settles or heads to trial - typically go through him, since he's the one weighing how all the moving parts across every department fit together.
He has represented clients in both state and federal court and has experience in both plaintiff and defense work. That background informs how he evaluates a case from the outset: where it's headed, and where it needs to go. His long-standing background in healthcare law also gives him an edge in personal injury cases involving complex or ongoing medical treatment, where the case often turns on a deep bench of medical experts on both sides - and where a well-prepared deposition can be the difference between a modest recovery and a substantial one.
He's also the founding president of the Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ), a nonprofit dedicated to human rights and legal advocacy. Between CFTJ and the firm's own pro bono work, Gor has spent much of his career representing people who couldn't otherwise afford representation - work he considers just as central to the firm's identity as its paying clients.
Outside the office, Gor is a husband and father to two daughters, and he brings the same care he shows his family to how he leads his team and treats his clients.
Garri Shahinyan, Esq.
Trial Attorney | Head of Litigation
Garri Shahinyan heads the Litigation Department at Gor & Associates, where his practice is built around personal injury cases - car accidents, slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall claims, and cases against government and commercial entities. Licensed by the State Bar of California since 2020, he built a reputation early for showing up prepared and staying prepared.
Garri treats every case as if it's headed to trial, because that's the only way to actually be ready if it does. He handles matters from the moment a lawsuit is filed through jury trial - discovery, depositions, motions, settlement talks - and makes a point of keeping clients in the loop the whole way, not just at the milestones.
He earned his LL.M. from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he was recognized with a Certificate of Merit as an Outstanding Legal Intern in the Immigration Clinic. Before focusing on litigation, Garri spent years teaching law to university students, and his background also touches civil litigation, business law, environmental law, and energy law, including matters involving international clients.
That mix - courtroom experience, academic training, and years of teaching others how to think like lawyers - is what he brings to every case he takes on.
Ani M. Yesayan, J.D.
Director of Pre-Litigation
Ani Yesayan has led the Pre-Litigation Department at Gor & Associates for many years, building a distinguished career in personal injury law that began in 2004. Throughout that time, helping individuals navigate some of the most difficult moments of their lives has become more than a profession—it is a responsibility she approaches with genuine compassion, determination, and skill.
Ani’s academic journey reflects her persistence and commitment to the legal field. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Law from California State University, Northridge, completed further legal studies at UCLA, and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law. She continues to strengthen her knowledge through ongoing legal education.
As Director of Pre-Litigation, Ani is often the first steady and reassuring presence clients encounter. She oversees case strategy, medical treatment coordination, negotiations, and client communication from the outset, ensuring every case is thoroughly developed and positioned for the strongest possible outcome.
Her experience encompasses a broad range of matters, including personal injury, product liability, wrongful death, dog bites, premises liability, and lemon law claims.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Ani takes great pride in being a devoted wife and mother. She also holds a black belt in karate, reflecting the discipline, focus, and perseverance that define both her personal life and professional approach.
Anna Derzyan, LL.M
Lead Case Manager
Anna Derzyan has been part of Gor & Associates since 2013, and in that time she's become one of the people the whole firm leans on. As Lead Case Manager, her role goes beyond her own caseload - she's also the person other case managers turn to when a matter gets complicated, helping guide, escalate, and resolve issues across the whole department, from routine car accident claims to more fact-intensive matters like dog bite cases.
She holds a Master's degree in Law and Jurisprudence from ASPU and an LL.M. from USC, and she puts that legal training to work every day: untangling disputed liability, pushing back on insurance companies, and keeping cases moving when the facts aren't as clean as anyone would like. Clients and colleagues alike come to her because she notices problems before they become problems.
Anna speaks English, Armenian, and Russian fluently, which lets her connect directly with clients who might otherwise need a translator between them and their own case. She's also a commissioned California Notary Public.
At home, her favorite title by far is “mom” to her son - and that same steadiness carries straight into how she manages a case file.
Betty Hakobyan, J.D.
Litigation Paralegal
Betty Hakobyan has worked in the legal field since 2018, gaining experience at respected firms in both Los Angeles and Fresno before joining Gor & Associates. As a Litigation Paralegal, she supports the firm's attorneys through every stage of personal injury and civil litigation, and she still helps with client service in the Fresno area when needed.
Her background spans complex civil litigation, personal injury, employment law, and wrongful termination cases. Before law, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminology with a minor in Psychology from Fresno State - finishing in three years - and then spent time as a counselor working with at-risk youth before going on to earn her J.D. from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, where she picked up Witkin Legal Institute Awards for Advanced Legal Writing and Pretrial Litigation.
That counseling background isn't just a line on her resume - it shapes how she works. Betty brings genuine patience to clients who are dealing with a life-altering accident, on top of the diligence the work itself demands.
She's a wife and mother of two, and outside the office she's usually found with a book, in the kitchen, or hosting friends and family.
Christina Chamlian
Law Clerk
Christina Chamlian joined Gor & Associates as a Law Clerk in 2025, supporting the firm's attorneys with legal research, drafting, discovery, and trial prep. She came in with a head start - several years of experience as a Legal Assistant already under her belt, working on litigation support and case management.
She's currently earning her J.D. at Southwestern Law School, where she's built a strong record both in and out of the classroom: she won the CALI Award for the top grade in Fashion Law, serves as a Teaching Assistant for Amateur Sports Law, and stays active with the Business Law Society and the Armenian Student Association. Before law school, she earned her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Education from UCLA.
Her interests run wide - litigation, business, entertainment, fashion, and sports law - and she's already gained hands-on experience reviewing contracts and working with creators, talent, and entertainment companies.
Christina is fluent in Armenian and English and gets by well in conversational Italian. Off the clock, she's into fashion, a good shopping trip, and live music.
Nane Sargsyan
Assistant Case Manager
Nane Sargsyan joined Gor & Associates in 2024 and now works as an Assistant Case Manager in the firm's personal injury practice, helping guide cases from intake all the way through resolution. That means coordinating treatment, tracking documentation, and staying on top of communication so nothing slips through the cracks.
Where Nane really stands out is in how she organizes a case as it heads toward trial - laying out the fact pattern, the evidence, the chain of custody, and the timeline in a way that holds together under pressure. In cases where liability was disputed, or where an injury looked more minor on paper than it turned out to be (the kind of “eggshell skull” situation where a seemingly small incident leads to serious, lasting harm), that kind of clear, well-documented causation has made a real difference in the outcome - cases that could easily have been valued far lower came out very differently because the record was airtight.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and Informatics - an unusual background for the legal field, but one that shows up clearly in how she works: analytical, organized, and quick to spot a detail that matters.
Nane is fluent in English, Armenian, and Russian, which lets her meet clients from different backgrounds where they are and walk them through a process that can otherwise feel confusing or overwhelming. Clients often mention how much calmer the experience feels once she's involved.
Outside of work, she has a genuine love for the arts and spends much of her free time exploring different kinds of creative expression.
Karlen Shahbazyan
Assistant Case Manager
Karlen Shahbazyan works as an Assistant Case Manager at Gor & Associates, and what sets him apart is as much about people as it is about process. He's genuinely interested in the clients he works with - not just their case, but their story - and he has a way of talking clients through a stressful process without ever adding to the stress. That easy rapport doesn't come at the expense of the work, though; Karlen is thorough to a fault, and he doesn't consider a file finished until every angle has been checked.
That combination has served clients well in some of the firm's more difficult matters - cases involving intentional and violent acts, like shootings, that fall well outside the more familiar territory of car accidents, premises liability, or dog bite claims. Those cases tend to demand more digging and a different kind of judgment, and Karlen has built a reputation for finding a path to results in situations that could otherwise be very hard to move forward.
He studied Political Science at UC Irvine, where he built a solid grounding in government, public policy, and the legal institutions that shape how cases actually move through the system - a foundation that shows up in how methodically he works today.
David Kyutukyan
Intern
David Kyutukyan is one of Gor & Associates' standout interns - fluent in English and Armenian, conversational in Spanish, and genuinely excited about a future in law. He's currently setting his sights on some of the top law schools in the country, and the whole firm is rooting for him to get there.