ESSENTIAL CRITERIA DETERMINATIVE OF ENGAGING IN THE PRACTICE OF LAW: (HACA)

1. Habituality- implies customarily or habitually holding oneself out to the

public as a lawyer
2. Compensation- implies that one must have presented himself to be in the
active practice and that his professional services are available to the public for
compensation, as a source of his livelihood or in consideration of his said
services.
3. Application of law, legal principle, practice, or procedure which calls for
legal knowledge, training and experience
4. Attorney – client relationship

PRIVATE PRACTICE
Private practice is more than an isolated appearance for it consists of frequent or
customary actions, a succession of acts of the same kind.

 NOTE: An isolated appearance does not amount to practice of law of a public

officer if allowed by his superior in exceptional cases.

NOTE: The practice of law is not a natural, property or constitutional right but a
mere privilege. It is not a right granted to any one who demands it but a privilege
to be extended or withheld in the exercise of sound judicial discretion. It is in
the nature of a franchise conferred only for merit which must be earned by hard
study, learning and good conduct. It is a privilege accorded only to those who
measure up to certain rigid standards of mental and moral fitness. Those standards
are neither dispensed with nor