Legal Ethics

A. Definition of Legal Ethics

It is the branch of moral science which treats of the duties which an attorney owes to the
court, to his clients, to his colleagues in the profession and to the public as embodied in the
Constitution, Rules of Court, the Code of Professional Responsibility, Canons of Professional
Ethics, jurisprudence, moral law and special law.

B. Sources of Legal Ethics

1. Canons of Professional ethics
2. Supreme Court Decisions
3. Statutes
4. Constitution
5. Treatises and Publications
C. Importance and Significance
1. Legal Ethics sets rules to limit the parameters and tame the exercise of the
profession which prevents transgressive, anarchic, riotous, lawbreaking, defiant and
disobidient to courts.

2. Legal ethics will guard against the abuses and ills of the professuion such as
dishonesty, deceit, immorality, negligence, slothness, lack of diligence and many
forms of malpractice of the members of the Bar.

3. It will raise the standard of the legal profession, encourage and enhance the respect
for the law, assure an effective and efficient administration of justice, assist in the
keeping and maintenance of law and order in coordination with the other department
of the Government.

4. 4.It Provides the basis for the weeding out of the unfit and the misfit in the legal
profession for the protection of the public.

D. Important Terms and their Definition

a. BAR – It refers to the whole body of attorney and counselors: collectively, the
members of the legal profession.
b. BENCH – It denotes the whole body of judges
c. LAWYER – This is the general term for a person trained in the law and
authorized to advise or represent others in legal matters.
d. TRIAL LAWYER – A lawyer who personally handles cases in court,
administrative agencies or boards which means engaging in actual trial work
either for the prosecution or for the defense of cases of clients.
e. PRACTICING LAWYER – One engaged in the practice of law. One who perform
those acts which are characteristics of the profession. Generally, to practice law
is to give notice or render any kind of service, which device or service requires
the use in any degree of legal knowledge or skill.
( Cayetano v Monsod)
f. CLIENT – One who engages the services of a lawyer for legal advice or for
purpose of prosecuting or defending a suit in his behalf for a fee.
g. Attorney-in-fact – An agent whose athority is strictly limited by the instrument
appointing him, though he may do the performance of the duties specifically
required of him by the power of attorney appointing him, such authority being
necessarily implied.

Source: Legal Ethics by Pimentel

 Legal Ethics
h. Counsel de oficio – A counsel, appointed or assigned by the court, from among
suh members of the bar in good standing who, by reason of their experience and
ability, may adequately deend the accused.

i. Attorney-ad-hoc – A person named and appointed by the court to defend an

absentee defendant in the suit in which the appointment is made.

j. Attorney of Record – Attorney whose name must appear somewhere in

permanent records or files of case, or on the pleadings or some instrument filed
in the case, or on appearance docket. Person whom the client has nmed as his
agent upon wom service of papers may be made.

k. Lead Counsel – The counsel on ether side of a litigated action who is charged
with the principal management and direction of party’s case, as distinguished
from his juniors or subordinates, is said to ‘”lead in the cause” and is termed the
leading counsel on the side. It may also refer to the chief or primary attrony in
class action or mulit-district litigation.

l. House Counsel – Lawyer who acts as attorney for business though carried as
an employee of that business and not as an independent lawyer.

m. Amicus Curiae – “A friend of the court”. A person with strong interest in or view
on the subject matter of an action, but not a party to the action, may petition the
court fr permission to file a brief, ostensibbly on behelf of a party but actually to
suggest a rational consistent with its own views.

n. Amicus Curiae Par Excellence – Bar associations who appear in court as amici
curiae are referred as amicus curiae par excellence.

o. Bar Association – An association of members of the legal profession like the

Integrated Bar of the Philippines where membership is integrated and
compulsory.

p. Advocate – Lawyers who pleads on behalf of someone else. An advocate is one

who pleads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court.

q. Barrister (England) – A person entitled to practice laws as an advocate or

counsel in superior courts.
r. Solicitor – A government lawyer attached with the Office of the Solicitor General.
s. Ambulance chasing- It typically refers to lawyers who solicit from accident
victims or their families at the scene of an accident or disaster (or immediately
thereafter); figuratively chasing an ambulance from an accident scene to the
hospital.
t. Barratry – The act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass.
Usually, the actions brought lack merit
u. Pro hac vice – A legal term usually referring to a lawyer who has not been
admitted to practice in a certain jurisdiction but has been allowed to participate in
a particular case in that jurisdiction.

Source: Legal Ethics by Pimentel