By Justin Wingerter
Copyright denverpost
A family law attorney will be unable to practice this fall after calling her former client “a terrible mother” with a “worthless child” on Facebook, among other recent transgressions.
Bernadette Gonzales has operated 5280 Family Law in Denver since passing the bar in 2000, according to her LinkedIn page. Her client base is “hardworking, blue collar people of modest means” and mostly Hispanic, according to an August court order suspending her.
The order states that Gonzales will lose her law license for 60 days beginning on Oct. 3.
In the summer of 2020, a 5280 client named Michelle Gillett left a negative review of the firm on its Facebook page, calling Gonzales a “nasty, rude person.” Gonzales fired back.
“She is a terrible mother,” Gonzales wrote of Gillett in a comment that is still online. “She allows her kids to damage other people’s property and then blames everyone else. She does not like hearing the truth about her lack of parenting nor the worthless child she raised.”
“Just another dysfunctional family raising entitled children. If she tries to retain you to represent her family, do not take the case. There are many families out there more worthy.”
Those remarks grabbed the attention of the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation, which says that Gonzales revealed confidential information and violated her duties to a client.
Three years later, Gonzales was sued in small claims court by a paralegal who had not been paid $2,100. Gonzales largely ignored that lawsuit and failed to participate in discovery, causing a judge to hold her in contempt and sentence her to 30 hours of community service, according to the Office of Attorney Regulation, which dinged Gonzales for ignoring a court order.
In early 2024, Gonzales also failed to set a hearing in a client’s divorce case, causing that case to be dismissed. And, in another case, she did not tell a client what her hourly fee was.
For those ethical lapses, the Office of Attorney Regulation asked Disciplinary Judge Bryon Large to suspend Gonzales’ license for 60 days. He agreed and did so on Aug. 29.
“The respondent has a positive reputation in the community, both non-legal and legal,” the office wrote of Gonzales, noting her volunteer work on behalf of teen mothers and others.
“The respondent acknowledges the difficulties of representing this (Hispanic) population, as it is her experience they typically do not trust the legal system, are not very educated, and do not have significant funds at their disposal,” it went on to say. “The respondent has a positive reputation for meeting her clients and the community where they are, and is remorseful that her misconduct in the matter fell below her communities’ needs and her ethical duties.”
An attorney for Gonzales, Nicole Black with Vivid Legal in Denver, declined to comment.
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