A Waukesha lawyer with a checkered professional discipline history, including for sexual relations with a client and a juvenile client's mother, won back his license to practice Wednesday from the state Supreme Court.
Carlos Gamino, a 1997 Marquette Law School graduate, was suspended for six months in 2006 for the sexual relationships, then publicly reprimanded that year for not being diligent, not returning unearned fees in a timely fashion, contacting a client after a change in counsel and a trust account violation. In 2008, he was suspended 18 months for representing both parties in a divorce that left the wife with a "patently unfair" settlement. Gamino, 38, sought reinstatement in April 2010, but the Office of Lawyer Regulation opposed the request and the case went to hearings last fall. A referee found that Gamino met the conditions to be allowed to practice law again, and the Supreme Court agreed.
But the court did require that Gamino work under a supervising attorney - not his wife or any other relative - for two years. The supervisory attorney must file quarterly reports with the Office of Lawyer Regulation.
During his suspension, Gamino worked as a finance director for a Racine auto dealer and managed his own real estate rental business.
In the divorce case, the woman wound up filing for bankruptcy and obtaining a judgment against Gamino for $13,000. The Office of Lawyer Regulation was concerned he had not shown remorse for what happened to the woman and may have misstated his finances to avoid the judgment.
But the referee was convinced by tax records and testimony from Gamino's wife, also a lawyer, that the financial disclosure was accurate and that Gamino was remorseful and embarrassed about botching the divorce.