SAN FRANCISCO — Suspended Quezon City, Philippines attorney Nicolas Joson Gomez Jr. faces disbarment by default following a May 8 California State Bar Court recommendation for failing to comply with conditions of a previous disciplinary probation.
Gomez failed to correct errors in quarterly reports, submit proof he completed the State Bar of California's ethics school and submit proof he completed the state bar's client trust accounting school, according to the state bar court's seven-page decision and order of involuntary inactive enrollment.
The state bar court's recommendation included an involuntary inactive enrollment order that rendered Gomez involuntarily enrolled as an inactive member of the State Bar of California. That order was effective three calendar days after service, according to the recommendation.
The state bar's recommendation is pending final action by the California Supreme Court, an appeal before the state bar's review department or expiration of time in which parties may request further review within the state bar court.
Gomez failed to participate in person or via counsel; and the state bar's decision and order for disbarment were entered by default. In such cases, in which an attorney fails to participate in a California State Bar disciplinary proceeding despite adequate notice and opportunity, the bar invokes Rule 5.85, which provides the procedure for the state bar to recommend an attorney’s disbarment.
The state bar's entry for default was entered in November.
Gomez's recommended discipline was among the dispositions filed earlier this month by the state bar court's hearing department for May.
Gomez was admitted to the bar in California on Dec. 11, 1989, according to his profile at the state bar website. Gomez had no prior discipline and no other disciplinary matters are pending, according to his profile and the state bar court's recommendation.
In July, Gomez was suspended until he passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, which he had been ordered the previous year to take as part of a previous suspension, according to information on his state bar profile. In May 2016, Gomez was suspended for a year for alleged misconduct in three client matters after he stipulated to having failed to perform with competence, mishandled and misappropriated client settlement funds, failed to maintain client funds, commingled, and failed to communicate and inform a client of significant developments.