In 2017, Carlos Gomez was the first in his family to finish college with a bachelor’s degree from UCSD where he majored in political science, specializing in public law. He finished his JD at California Western School of Law with Magna Cum Laude distinction and passed the California Bar in June 2021.
During his time at California Western, Gomez published a scholarly article in the school’s law journal: The International Criminal Court’s Decision on the Rohingya Crisis: The Need for A Critical Redefinition of Trans-Border Jurisdiction to Address Human Rights, CAL. W. INT’L L. J. – Fall 2019. The article analyzed implications of allowing an international court to make a ruling where they have no express jurisdiction and could provide further decisions about human rights in situations like the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
While working toward his law degree, Gomez also interned at New Media Rights where he drafted a long list of documents including author release agreements, merchandise agreements, YouTube client IP licensing agreements, publishing agreements, and demand letters.
His legal experience also builds on externing for the Honorable Karen S. Crawford, United States Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, where he researched and analyzed case law, drafted bench memoranda, and observed court proceedings and settlement conferences.
Since joining Brotman Law as an Associate Attorney in July 2021, most of the tax cases he has dealt with have been for collections and EDD audits. He has also been exposed to foreign disclosure issues.
When asked “Why did you choose legal taxation?” Gomez replied “You get to meddle in all kinds of fields when you help people with their tax issues, from high tech to construction to aviation. Learning about what clients do keeps it interesting for me – it’s not just about taxes.”
Gomez lists his second passion as intellectual property, finding a lot of tax implications in licensing agreements, especially in sublicensing agreements where there is major negotiation about what party should bear the local tax burden – the licensee or the sublicensee.
Looming large in his future is a trip to Japan next year, and in preparation for the trip he is starting a Japanese language program. Gomez also has a 110-pound Mastiff-Pitbull-mix dog named Moe who walks him every day. In his free time, he keeps up on tech news, watches slasher movies such as “Killer Clowns from Outer Space,” and enjoys reading Stephen King and Dan Brown novels.
