Tahj Emmanuel Gomes

Mr. Gomes was raised in Siskiyou County, California.  He graduated from California State University, Chico with a degree in Political Science in 1996, and obtained his Juris Doctorate and certificates in Public Interest and High Technology Law from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1999. During law school he interned in and directed the Consumer Law Program at the East San Jose Community Law Center, worked in the legal department at Computer Curriculum Corporation, and externed for the Hon. Patricia V. Trumbull at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in San Jose. After law school Mr. Gomes worked for three years at Bergeson & Eliopoulos in downtown San Jose, where he specialized in business and intellectual property litigation and licensing. During this time he also taught High Tech Moot Court classes at Santa Clara University School of Law and served on the advisory boards for the law school's High Tech Law Program and the East San Jose Community Law Center. In late 2002 he returned to Chico and joined the Law Office of Michael T. Shepherd, where he practiced insurance defense, personal injury, and general civil litigation before joining Washington and Heithecker in September of 2004.

Mr. Gomes left Washington & Heithecker and started his own law firm in May of 2016, focusing on criminal defense of felony and misdemeanor cases pursuant to a subcontract with a local (contract) Public Defender, along with civil litigation and some family law (which he had been doing for several years prior).  He appeared weekly on the Public Defender felony calendar in Butte County for one year, during which he tried both jury and bench trials, and represented hundreds of clients.  During the same time period - and through the prewsnt - he was also Special Counsel for the Butte County Public Guardian, Public Administrator, and Behavioral Health, handling LPS and Probate Conservatorships, Capacity Hearings, Habeas  Corpus hearings, and 5150 hearings, among others.

In May of 2017 Mr. Gomes started handling DUI and Criminal Defense cases through the Law Office of John Joseph ("Joe") VanDervoot, a local Criminal Defesne and DUI lawyer of long standing who is known as the "DUI KING."  Mr. Gomes continues to maintain his own office, however, and handles civil litigation and some family law matters.  He may be contacted through either office.

Mr. Gomes' law practice presently includes DUI and Criminal Defense, Personal Injury and general Civil Litigation, and some business litigation and contract drafting, in addition to Conservatorship hearings and related matters.

Mr. Gomes is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeal, for the Ninth Circuit. He is a member of the State Bar of California, the Butte County Bar Association, and others.  He is ranked 10.0 out of 10.0 (“Superb”) by the Avvo Lawyer Ranking System, and was selected as one of The Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice – 2012 by , an independent website that is “dedicated to educating the public about their rights and role in medical malpractice litigation.”