NO.

CASE

1.  Presidential Commission on Good Government v. Sandiganbayan

2.  Director of Religious Affarirs v. Bayot

3.  Del Mundo v. Capistrano

4.  Tejana v. Baterina 748

5.  Ledesma v. Climaco

6.  Luna v. Galarrita

7.  Villegas v. Legaspi

8.  Cui v. Cui

9.  Alawi v. Alauya

10 Enriquez v. Jimenez

11 Philippine Lawyers Association v. Agrava

12 Pangan v. Ramos

13 Salcedo v. Hernandez

14 Blanza v, Arcangel
15 Ui v. Bonifacio

16 Deles v. Aragona

17 Zoreta v. Simpliciano

18 A-I Financial Services v. Valerio

24 Barcenas v. Alvero

25 Oria v. Tupaz

26 In re: Victorio Lanuevo

27 Ecraela v. Pangalangan 769 SCRA 361

28 Umaguing v. De VeRa 749 SCRA 473

29 Alonso v. Relamida 626 SCRA 281

30 Pangan v. Ramos 93 SCRA 87

31 Madrid v. Dealca 734 SCRA 468

32 In re: Salazar

33 Omico Mining and Idustrial Corporation v. Vallejos

34 In re Cunanan

35 Collantes v. Renomeron

36 In re: Almacen

37 In re: Argosino

38 Kurada v. Jalandoni

39 People v. Villanueva

40 Dia-Annonuevo v. Bercacio

41 De Guzman v. Visayan Rapid Transit

42 Cayetano v. Monsod
43 In re: Edillon

44 Bacarro v. Pinatacan

45 Tajan v. Cusi, Jr.

46 Alcala vs. De Vera

47 Cantimbuhan vs. Cruz

48 Hydro Resources Contractors Corp. vs. Pagalilauan

49 Ramos vs. Rada

50 Beltran, Jr. vs. Abad

51 Diao vs. Martinez

52 Jardeleza vs. Sereno

53 Guarin vs. Limpin

 Principle

“Adverse-interest conflicts” exist where the matter in which the former government lawyer
represents a client in private practice is substantially related to a matter that the lawyer dealt with
while employed by the government and the interests of the current and former are adverse
“Congruent-interest representation conflicts” are unique to government lawyers and apply primarily
to former government lawyers, prohibiting lawyers from representing a private practice client even if
the interests of the former government client and the new client are entirely parallel
Rule 6.03— A lawyer shall not, after leaving government service, accept engagement or employment
in connection with any matter in which he had intervened while in said service.
Matter - any discrete, isolatable act as well as identifiable transaction or conduct involving a
particular situation and specific party, and not merely an act of drafting, enforcing or interpreting
government or agency procedures, regulations or laws, or briefing abstract principles of law.
Intervened - only includes an act of a person who has the power to influence the subject
proceedings.

Section 25 of Rule 127. It is highly unethical for an attorney to advertise his talents or skill as a
merchant advertises his wares. Law is a profession and not a trade. The lawyer degrades himself and
his profession who stoops to and adopts the practices of mercantilism by advertising his services or
offering them to the public.

Indeed, when a lawyer takes a client’s cause, he covenants that he will exercise due diligence in
protecting the latter’s rights. His workload does not justify neglect in handling one’s case because it is
settled that a lawyer must only accept cases as much as he can efficiently handle.
A lawyer is obliged to hold in trust money of his client that may come to his possession. As trustee of
such funds, he is bound to keep them separate and apart from his own. Money entrusted to a lawyer
for a specific purpose such as for the filing and processing of a case if not utilized, must be returned
immediately upon demand.

Lawyers have a “fourfold duty to society, the legal profession, the courts and their clients,” and must
act “in accordance with the values and norms of the legal profession as embodied in the Code of
Professional Responsibility
Once a lawyer’s services are engaged, “he is duty-bound to serve his client with competence, and to
attend to his client’s cause with diligence, care and devotion regardless of whether he accepts it for a
fee or for free.
It makes even more manifest that law is indeed a profession dedicated to the ideal of service and not
a mere trade.

SC: acknowledges the recommendation of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Board of Governors,
with modification increasing the period of suspension from the practice of law to two (2) years.
Even though complainant Luna effectively abandoned the issue on respondent Atty. Galarrita’s lack of
authority to compromise the civil case when he demanded the payment of the settlement proceeds,
this does not erase his acts of abusing the trust and confidence reposed in him by complainant Luna.
Any money collected for the client or other trust property coming into the lawyer’s possession should
promptly be reported by him.
Without the client’s consent, the lawyer has no authority to apply the client’s money for his fees, but
he should instead return the money to his client, without prejudice to his filing a case to recover his
unsatisfied fees.
First, “lawyer[s] [are] not entitled to unilaterally appropriate [their] clients[’] money for [themselves]
by the mere fact that the client[s] [owe] [them] attorney’s fees.”100They must give prompt notice to
their clients of any receipt of funds for or on behalf of their clients.
elements required for full recognition of attorney’s lien are: “(1) lawyer-client relationship; (2) lawful
possession of the client’s funds, documents and papers; and (3) unsatisfied claim for attorney’s
fees.”102
Thus, “appearance as counsel” is a voluntary submission to a court’s jurisdiction by a legal advocate
or advising lawyer professionally engaged to represent and plead the cause of another.
Since the respective Courts of First Instance, before which Assemblymen Legaspi and Fernandez
appeared as counsel, were acting in the exercise of original and not appellate jurisdiction, they must
be held barred from appearing as counsel before said Courts in the two cases involved herein.
No Senator or Member of the House of Representatives may personally appear as counsel before any
court of justice or before the Electoral Tribunals, or quasi-judicial and other administrative bodies.
(SEC. 14, ART. VI, CONSTITUTION

We are of the opinion that whether taken alone or in context the term "titulo de abogado" means not
mere possession of the academic degree of Bachelor of Laws but membership in the Bar after due
admission thereto, qualifying one for the practice of law.
According to Rule 138 such admission requires passing the Bar examinations, taking the lawyer's
oath and receiving a certificate from the Clerk of Court, this certificate being his license to practice
the profession. The academic degree of Bachelor of Laws in itself has little to do with admission to
the Bar, except as evidence of compliance with the requirements that an applicant to the
examinations has "successfully completed all the prescribed courses, in a law school or university,
officially approved by the Secretary of Education." For this purpose, however, possession of the
degree itself is not indispensable: completion of the prescribed courses may be shown in some other
way.
When the defendant was restored to the roll of lawyers the restrictions and disabilities resulting from
his previous disbarment were wiped out.

“(p)ublic officials and employees ** at all times respect the rights of others, and ** refrain from
doing acts contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy, public order, public safety and
public interest.”17 More than once has this Court emphasized that “the conduct and behavior of
every official and employee of an agency involved in the administration of justice, from the presiding
judge to the most junior clerk, should be circumscribed with the heavy burden of responsibility. Their
conduct must at all times be characterized by, among others, strict propriety and decorum so as to
earn and keep the respect of the public for the judiciary

Unlike a practicing lawyer who has the right to decline employment, a fiscal cannot refuse the
performance of his functions on grounds not provided for by law without violating his oath of office,
where he swore, among others, "that he will well and faithfully discharge to the best of his ability the
duties of the office or position upon which he is about to enter.
Bias of prejudice and animosity or hostility on the part of a fiscal not based on any of the conditions
enumerated in the law and the Rules of Court do not constitute a legal and valid excuse for inhibition
or disqualification.

members of the Philippine Bar authorized by this Tribunal to practice law, and in good standing, may
practice their pro fession before the Patent Office, for the reason that much of the business in said
office involves the interpretation and determination of the scope and application of the Patent Law
and other laws applicable, as well as the presentation of evidence to establish facts involved; that
part of the functions of the Patent Director are judicial or quasijudicial, so much so that appeals from
his orders and decisions are, under the law, taken to the Supreme Court.
The attorney’s roll or register is the official record containing the names and signatures of those who
are authorized to practice law. A lawyer is not authorized to use a name other than the one inscribed
in the Roll of Attorneys in his practice of law.
It is right and plausible that an attorney, in defending the cause and rights of his client, should do so
with all the fervor and energy of which he is capable, but it is not, and never will be so for him to
exercise said right by resorting to intimidation or proceeding without the propriety and respect which
the dignity of the courts require.
"Where the matter is abusive or insulting, evidence that the language used was justified by the facts
is not admissible as a defense. Respect for the judicial office should always be observed and
enforced."
A lawyer has a more dynamic and positive role in the community than merely complying with the
minimal technicalities of the statute. As a man of law, he is necessarily a leader of the community,
looked up to as a model citizen. His conduct must, perforce, be par excellence, especially so when,
as in this case, he volunteers his professional services.
Clear from the foregoing is that one of the conditions prior to admission to the bar is that an
applicant must possess good moral character. More importantly, possession of good moral character
must be continuous as a requirement to the enjoyment of the privilege of law practice, otherwise, the
loss thereof is a ground for the revocation of such privilege. Immoral conduct has been defined as
“that conduct which is willful, flagrant, or shameless, and which shows a moral indifference to the
opinion of the good and respectable members of the community

Statements made in the course of judicial proceedings are absolutely privileged—that is, privileged
regardless of defamatory tenor and of the presence of malice—if the same are relevant, pertinent or
material to the cause in hand or subject of the inquiry. And that, in view of this, the person who
makes them—such as ajudge, lawyer, or witness—does not thereby incur the risk of being found
liable thereon in a criminal prosecution or an action for the recovery of damages.”
The object of a disbarment proceeding is not so much to punish the individual attorney himself, as to
saf eguard the administration of justice by protecting the court and the public from the misconduct of
officers of the court, and to remove from the profession of law persons whose disregard for their
oath of office have proved them unfit to continue discharging the trust reposed in them as members
of the bar

Canon 7 of the same Code, which directs every lawyer to uphold at all times the integrity and dignity
of the legal profession.
On different occasions, this Court had disbarred or suspended lawyers for notarizing documents with
an expired commission

The deliberate failure to pay just debts and the issuance of worthless checks constitute gross
misconduct, for which a lawyer may be sanctioned with suspension from the practice of law.
A lawyer’s failure to answer the complaint against him and his failure to appear at the investigation
are evidence of his flouting resistance to lawful orders of the court and illustrate his despiciency for
his oath of office in violation of Section 3, Rule 138 of the Rules of Court.

When a lawyer receives money from a client for a particular purpose, the lawyer is bound to render
an accounting to the client showing that the money was spent for a particular purpose. And if he
does not use the money for the intended purpose, the lawyer must immediately return the money to
his client.
Atty. Alvero’s failure to immediately account for and return the money when due and upon demand
violated the trust reposed in him, demonstrated his lack of integrity and moral soundness, and
warranted the imposition of disciplinary action.
Once he agrees to take up the cause of a client, the lawyer owes fidelity to such cause and must
always be mindful of the trust and confidence reposed in him. He must serve the client with
competence and diligence, and champion the latter’s cause with wholehearted fidelity, care, and
devotion
Supreme Court with authority to determine what crime involves moral turpitude.
On several occasions in the past, the Court nullified the admission of successful bar candidates to the
membership of the Bar on the grounds, among others, of (a) misrepresentations of, or false
pretenses relative to, the requirement on applicant’s educational attainment; (b) lack of good moral
character; and (c) fraudulent passing of the Bar examinations.

Good moral character is not only required for admission to the Bar, but must also be retained in
order to maintain one’s good standing in this exclusive and honored fraternity.
Fundamental is the rule that in his dealings with his client and with the courts, every lawyer is
expected to be honest, imbued with integrity, and trustworthy
The essence of forum shopping is the filing of multiple suits involving the same parties for the same
cause of action, either simultaneously or successively, for the purpose of obtaining a favorable
judgment.
A lawyer who files multiple or repetitious petitions (which obviously delays the execution of a final
and executory judgment) subjects himself to disciplinary action for incompetence (for not knowing
any better) or for willful violation of his duties as an attorney to act with all good fidelity to the
courts, and to maintain only such actions as appear to him to be just and are consistent with truth
and honor
The attorney’s roll or register is the official record containing the names and signatures of those who
are authorized to practice law. A lawyer is not authorized to use a name other than the one inscribed
in the Roll of Attorneys in his practice of law. Lawyer who use before the courts a name other than
the name inscribed in the Roll of Attorneys resorted to deception and demonstrated lack of candor in
dealing with the courts
The Lawyer’s Oath is a source of obligations and duties for every lawyer, and any violation thereof by
an attorney constitutes a ground for disbarment, suspension, or other disciplinary action. The oath
exhorts upon the members of the Bar not to “wittingly or willingly promote or sue any groundless,
false or unlawful suit.” These are not mere facile words, drift and hollow, but a sacred trust that must
be upheld and keep inviolable.
All lawyers are bound to uphold the dignity and authority of the courts, and to promote confidence in
the fair administration of justice. It is the respect for the courts that guarantees the stability of the
judicial institution; elsewise, the institution would be resting on a very shaky foundation

Names in a firm name of a partnership must be living partners

Section 35 of Rule 138 was pro mulgated by the Court pursuant to its constitutional power to
regulate the practice of law. It is based on sound reasons of public policy , for there is no question
that the rights, duties, privileges and functions of the office of an attorney-at-law are so inherently
incompatible with the high official functions, duties, powers, discretions and privileges of a judge of
the Court of First Instance.

The authority and responsibility over the admission, suspension, disbarment and reinstatement of
attorneys at law and their supervision remain vested in the Supreme Court

Misconduct as public official constitutes violation of oath as lawyer

Well-recognized therefore is the right of a lawyer, both as an officer of the court and as a citizen, to
criticize in properly respectful terms and through legitimate channels the acts of courts and judges.
But it is the cardinal condition of all such criticism that it shall be bona fide, and shall not spill over
the walls of decency and propriety.
Requirement of good moral character to be satisfied by those who would seek admission to the bar
must be a necessity more stringent than the norm of conduct expected from members of the general
public.
Military Commission is a special military tribunal governed by a special law and not by the Rules of
Court which govern ordinary civil courts. There is nothing in Executive Order No. 68 which requires
that counsel appearing before said commission must be attorneys qualified to practice law in the
Philippines in accordance with the Rules of Court.
The practice of law by attorneys employed in the government, to fall within the prohibition of
statute, has been interpreted as customarily or habitually holding one’s self out to the public, as a
lawyer and demanding payment for such services.
The appearance as counsel on one occasion, is not conclusive as determinative of engagement in the
private practice of law. The word private practice of law implies that one must have presented
himself to be in the active and continued practice of the legal profession and that his professional
services are available to the public for a compensation, as a source of his livelihood or in
consideration of his said services.
The rule disqualifying a municipal judge from engaging in the practice of law seeks to avoid the evil
of possible use of the power and influence of his office to affect the outcome of a litigation where he
is retained as counsel.
The importance, merits and value of professional services of a lawyer are measured not alone by his
work taken separately, but by his work taken as a whole.
Practice of law means any activity, in or out of court, which requires the application of law, legal
procedure, knowledge, training and experience.
To compel a lawyer to be a member of the Integrated Bar is no violative of his constitution freedom
to associate. Integration does not make a lawyer a member of any group of which he is not already a
member. He became a member of the Bar when he passed the Bar examinations. All that integration
actually does is to provide an official national organization for the well-defined but unorganized and
incohesive group of which every lawyer is already a member. Bar Integration does not compel the
lawyer to associate with anyone. He is free to attend or not attend the meetings of his Integrated Bar
Chapter or vote or refuse to vote in its elections as he chooses. The only compulsion to which he is
subjected is the payment of annual dues. The Supreme Court, in order to further the State’s
legitimate interest in elevating the quality of professional legal services, may require that the cost of
improving the professional in his fashion be shared by the subjects and beneficiaries of the regulatory
program—the lawyers. Assuming that the questioned provision does in a sense compel a lawyer to be
member of the Integrated Bar, such compulsion is justified as an exercise of the police power of the
State.
No prohibition in the Constitution from requiring members of a privileged class, such as lawyers are,
to pay a reasonable fee toward defraying the expenses of regulation of the profession to which they
belong.
If the power to imposed the fee as regulatory measure is recognized, then a penalty designed to
enforce its payment, which penalty may be avoided altogether by payment, is not void as
unreasonable or arbitrary.

We hold that herein respondent Pinatacan had failed to live up to the high moral standard demanded
for membership in the Bar. He had seduced complainant into physically submitting herself to him by
promises of marriage. He even eloped with her and brought her to another place. He got her
pregnant and then told her to have an abortion. When complainant refused, he deserted her.
Complainant had to track him down to ask him to help support their child born out of wedlock, and
during the few times that she was able to see him, respondent merely made promises which he
apparently did not intend to keep. On top of all these, respondent had the audacity and impudence
to deny before this Court in a sworn Affidavit the paternity of his child by complainant.

Court of First Instance has authority to investigate and suspend erring attorneys

In failing to inform his clients of the decision in the civil case handled by him, the lawyer failed to
exercise such skill, care, and diligence as men of the legal profession commonly possess and exercise
in such matters of professional employment.
Non-lawyers, including senior law students, can appear in the municipal trial court as private
prosecutors for accused persons under the supervision and control of the fiscal; Permission of the
fiscal not necessary for one to enter his appearance as private prosecutor.

A lawyer may be an employee of a private corporation or even of the government.

This Court has consistently ruled that the determination of whether or not there is an employer-
emloyee relation depends upon four standards:
(1) the manner of selection and engagement of the putative employee;
(2) the mode of payment of wages;
(3) the presence or absence of a power of dismissal; and
(4) the presence or absence of a power to control the putative employee’s conduct. Of the four, the
right-of-control test has been held to be the decisive factor
Rada has violated the civil service rule prohibiting government employees from engaging
directly in a private business, vocation or profession or being connected with any
commercial, credit, agricultural or industrial undertaking without a written permission
from the head of the Department. But, indubitably, also, his private business connection has not
resulted in any prejudice to the Government service. Thus, his violation of the rule—the lack of prior
permission—is a technical one, and he should be meted no more than the minimum imposable
penalty, which is reprimand

Practicing law without having been previously admitted to the Philippine bar, although already
successful bar candidate, constitutes contempt of court
Telesforo A. Diao was not qualified to take the bar examinations; but due to his false
representations, he was allowed to take it, luckily passed it, and was thereafter admitted to the Bar.
Such admission having been obtained under false pretenses must be, and is hereby revoked. The fact
that he hurdled the Bar examinations is immaterial. Passing such examinations is not the only
qualification to become an attorney-at-law; taking the prescribed courses of legal study in the regular
manner is equally essential.

A lawyer who engages in extra-marital affairs is deemed to have failed to adhere to the exacting
standards of morality and decency which every member of the Judiciary is expected to observe. In
fact, even relationships which have never gone physical or intimate could still be subject to charges
of immorality, when a lawyer, who is married, admits to having a relationship which was more than
professional, more than acquaintanceship, more than friendly.
It is well-established in jurisprudence that disciplinary proceedings against lawyers are sui generis in
that they are neither purely civil nor purely criminal; they involve investigations by the Supreme
Court (SC) into the conduct of one of its officers, not the trial of an action or a suit.
The Supreme Court (SC) subscribes to the view that in cases where an objection to an applicant’s
qualifications is raised, the observance of due process neither negates nor renders illusory the
fulfillment of the duty of Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to recommend

Disbarment proceedings are sui generis and can proceed independently of civil and criminal cases.
failure to pay just debts

failure to immediately account for

and return the money when due

Failure to pursue the client's cause

with diligence

SC determines moral turpitude;

Grounds for Nullification of
admission to membership in the Bar

Disbarred for mulitple illicit

relationships.
Suspended for falsification of
document

Suspended for Forum shopping;

Severe repirmand for use of a name

other than what he signed in the
Roll of Attorneys.
Lawyer's oath as a source of
obligation; Suspension with stern
warning for filing unsupported
motion for inhibition against a
Judge

Rule 3.02 - In the choice of a firm

name, no false, misleading or
assumed name shall be used. The
continued use of the name of a
deceased partner is permissible
provided that the firm indicates in
all its communications that said
partner is deceased.

Prohibition against private practice

of Judges

ART. VIII, SEC. 5(5) - The Supreme

Court shall have the power to
Promulgate rules concerning the xx
admission to the practice of law
Disbarred for misconduct as the
register of deeds

Suspended for disrepecful

statements made against SC

Appearance of aliens as counsels in

a Military Tribunal

Assistant City Attorney handling

case for relative with permission of
superior not prohibited private
practice.

Judge suspeneded for practice of

law

Attorney's fees

Practice of law, defined

No violation of freedom to associate
in the Integration of the Bar;
Membership fee is valid; Penalty for
non-payment is valid; Practice of
law is not property right but mere
privilege; Disbarrment case for non-
payment of membership dues

Rule 138, Sec. 28 - Suspension of

attorney by the Court of Appeals or
a Court of First Instance. — The
Court of Appeals or a Court of First
Instance may suspend an attorney
from practice for any of the causes
named in the last preceding
section, and after such suspension
such attorney shall not practice his
profession until further action of the
Supreme Court in the premises.

Severely censured

Senior law students as private

prosecutors

Illegal dismissal case against a

lawyer employee
Suspended for submitting a false
document