WHAT KIND OF LAWYER WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE

Edgardo J. Angara

The lawyer that we would like to have should be possessed of the following traits: moral strength,
technical competence, and social involvement. Let me briefly discuss the significance of these
qualifications:

1) Moral Strength – It is not enough for the lawyer to be honest and morally upright. His profession is
fraught with temptations at every turn. He will have numerous opportunities for material advancement
by cutting corners. The lawyer for instance would have to steer himself clear from various conflict of
interest situations. It is therefore imperative and fundamental that the lawyer be morally strong.

He must understand and sincerely believe in the ethical norms of his profession. He must be
able to abide by these norms not only for fear of the sanctions but because he is convinced that these
norms are right.

His moral courage must therefore come from deep inside him. He must always be able to
subordinate the economic aspects of his profession and of his very being to his scruples.

On moral issues, the lawyer should be able to control his client. It should not be the other way
around.

Not only must the lawyer be scrupulous out of sincere conviction, he must also be so with full
awareness that for every professional act of his, he leads by example. He must therefore not only be
scrupulous but he must always appear to be so.

2) Technical Competence - The lawyer deals with sensitive problems. People who seek the application of
his skills do so for practical purposes. His decisions are usually crucial to someone else’s life, liberty or
property.

Obviously, therefore, a lawyer with inadequate technical skills would be a nuisance and a
positive threat to the security of commercial transactions and the stability of our institutions.

Technical competence should not however be limited to the knowledge of legal rules. This
concept should encompass breadth and depth of learning in such related disciplines as deal with human
psychology, social behavior, political institutions and economic systems. -or the lawyer must not only
grapple with human and social problems. He cannot be a slave to a narrow discipline. He must be able
to perceive beyond the immediate legal consequences of acts and events. 'n many issues, which on their
face may call for the application strictly and purely of his legal skills, the lawyer may find himself falling
back more on his understanding of man and his society.

(c) Social Involvement - The lawyer occupies a unique position in his community. He is cast in the role of
a natural leader. People look up to him as a know-all. It is therefore only becoming that the rules of
court should expressly invest on lawyers a public responsibility. Importantly, no similar responsibility
has been imposed on any other profession.
 It is not my idea of a lawyer that, to be socially involved, he has to join organizations. It would,
to my mind, more than suffice to meet his social commitment for a lawyer to be able to make his own
clients honest. A lawyer should never tolerate a violation or infraction of the law by his client.
Clients are disposed to ask their lawyers for advice on how to violate the law with impunity.
This, a lawyer should never allow. By insisting on keeping his clients honest, a lawyer renders a distinct
public service. In this way, the lawyer is able to fulfill his public responsibility.