VOL.

93, SEPTEMBER 10, 1979 103

The Decorum of a Legal Practitioner

ANNOTATION

THE DECORUM OF A LEGAL PRACTITIONER

By
Atty. FLORIMOND C. ROUS

§ 1. Introduction, p. 103.
§ 2. Duties of Lawyers, p. 107.
§ 3. Suspension and Disbarment, p. 112.
§ 4. Conclusions, p. 114.

_______________

§ 1. Introduction

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 he volunteers his
professional services. (Blanza and Pasion vs. Arcangel,
Administrative Case No. 492, 21 SCRA 2). The standard
of professional and personal integrity which should be
applied to persons admitted to practice law is not satisfied
by such conduct as merely enables them to escape the
penalties of criminal law. Good moral character includes
at least common honesty. (Royong vs. Oblena,
Administrative Case No. 376, 7 SCRA 859). Thus,
attorneys must continue to adhere to the standards of
mental and moral fitness set up for the practice of law. (In
re Guiterrez, Administrative Case o. L-363, 5 SCRA 661;
Go vs. Candoy, Administrative Case No. 736, 21 SCRA
439). Membership in the Bar entails various obligations.
The lawyer’s, intimate link with the administration of
justice
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demands obligations from him which are not usually

expected of ordinary laymen. He has strong influence in
the community; people consider him honorable and wise
worthy of imitation; as such, he should not only preach
the law but likewise set the example by observing and
upholding the same.
He has a duty to his brothers and sisters to utilize
peaceful and legal means in seeking justice and refrain
from doing intentional wrong to their opponents. He
should strive to maintain public confidence in the
administration of justice and in the integrity of the
judiciary. He should discourage in dividuals, particularly
public officials, from disregarding the supremacy of the
law and respect for the rights of citizens. He should be
bold in attacking and exposing any breach of professional
ethics. He should always be active in the necessity of
purging the Bar and the Bench of unscrupulous elements.
He must combat all kinds of corruption that may creep
into the judiciary.
Lawyers should likewise ward off any attempt to
subvert judicial independent because the stability of
democracy can only be maintained with a strong and
independent judiciary. Because of their training, lawyers
are better equipped to detect and thwart any effort to
encroach upon or weaken the judiciary.
Many key positions in the government are occupied by
lawyers. Politics has attracted more lawyers than
members of any other profession; perhaps this is because
of their peculiar knowledge of the people’s political and
civil rights and the government legal structure.
The lawyer-politician should always be above the
common concept of politics. Legal ethics is no different
from any other form of morality; neither should political
ethics be any different. Both necessitate the use of the
principles of right and wrong to the behavior of persons in
their various callings. A lawyer should bear in mind that
for his misdemeanor as a public official, he may either be
suspended or disbarred.
A lawyer should never lend his aid to the enactment of
un just and unwise laws. On the contrary he should exert
his best efforts in securing the passage of laws which
would promote the public interest. Lawyers wield great
influence upon the

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country’s legislation for they have at their command two

potent weapons—publication of learned research and
arguments in court. They should use them wisely for the
public good. (Carter, Ethics of the Legal Profession, p. 34).
A lawyer openly, and in his true character may render
professional services before legislative or other bodies,
regarding proposed legislation and in advocacy of claims
before departments of government upon the same
principles of ethics which justify his appearance before the
Courts; but it is unprofessional for a lawyer so engaged, to
conceal his attorneyship, or to employ secret personal
solicitations, or to use other means than those addressed
to reason and understanding, to influence action. (Canons
of Professional Ethics, 26).
A lawyer may with propriety write articles for
publications in which he gives information upon the law;
but he should not accept employment from such
publication to advise inquiries in respect to their
individual rights. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 40).
 Just like other public officers, the lawyer assumes office
with the attendant duties and privileges; one such duty is
the rendering of free services to poor litigants. A superior
court may assign an attorney to render professional aid
free of charge to any party in a case, if upon investigation
it appears that the party is destitute and unable to
employ an attorney, and that the services of counsel are
necessary to secure the ends of justice and to protect the
rights of the party. It shall be the duty of the attorney so
assigned to render the required service, unless he is
excused therefrom by the court for sufficient cause shown.
(Rule 138, Section 31, Rules of Court).
For persons accused of crimes, lawyers may at times be
assigned as counsels de oficio. If the defendant appears
without attorney, he must be informed by the court that it
is his right to have attorney before being arraigned, and
must be asked if he desires the aid of attorney. If he
desires and is unable to employ attorney, the court must
assign attorney de oficio to defend him. A reasonable time
must be allowed for procuring attorney. (Rule 116, Section
3, Rules of Court). A lawyer as counsel de oficio is duty
bound to exert his best efforts in behalf of an indigent
client. (People vs. Estebia, L-
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26868, 27 SCRA 106). Attorneys de oficio may be assigned

not only in trials before the inferior courts but also in
appeals. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the trial court
upon the presentation of a notice of appeal in a criminal
case, to ascertain from the appellant, if he be confined in
prison, whether he desires the Court of Appeals or the
Supreme Court to appoint an attorney to defend him de
oficio and to transmit with the record, upon a form to be
prepared by the clerk of the appellate court, a certificate of
compliance with this duty and of the response of the
appellant to his inquiry. (Rule 122, Section 13, Rules of
Court). A lawyer assigned as counsel for an indigent
prisoner ought not to ask to be excused for any trivial
reason and should always exert his best efforts in his
behalf. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 4).
Finally, a lawyer should not give advice nor render
service if it would involve his loyalty to the laws. No client,
corporate or individual, however, powerful, nor any cause,
civil or political, however important, is entitled to receive
nor should any lawyer render any service or advice
involving disloyalty to the laws whose ministers we are, or
disrespect of the judicial office, which we are bound to
uphold, or corruption of any person or persons exercising
a public office or private trust, or deception or betrayal of
the public. When rendering any such improper service or
advice, the lawyer invites and merits stern and just
condemnation. Correspondingly, he advances the honor of
his profession and the best interests of his client when he
renders service or gives advice tending to impress upon
the client and his undertaking exact compliance with the
strictest principles of moral law. He must also observe and
advise his client to observe the statute law, though until a
statute shall have been construed and interpreted by
competent adjudication he is free and is entitled to advice
as to its validity and as to what he conscientiously
believes to he its just meaning and extent. But above all,
a lawyer will find his highest honor in a deserved
reputation for fidelity to private trust and to public duty,
as an honest man and as a patriotic and loyal citizen.
(Canons of Professional Ethics, 32).
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§ 2. Duties of Lawyers

It is the duty of the lawyer to maintain towards the Courts

a respectful attitude, not for the sake of the temporary
incumbent of the judicial office, but for the maintenance
of its supreme importance. Judges, not being wholly free
to defend themselves, are peculiarly entitled to receive the
support of the Bar against unjust criticism and clamor.
Whenever there is proper ground for serious complaint of
a judicial officer, it is the right and duty of the lawyer to
submit his grievances to the proper authorities. In such
cases, but not otherwise, such charges should be
encouraged and the person making them should be
protected. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 1). An
attorney’s duty of prime importance is to observe and
maintain the respect due to the courts of justice and
judicial officers. (People vs. Estebia, 27 SCRA 106, and
others). It is the duty of counsel to uphold the dignity of
the court by not using offensive languages (In Re Hon.
Climaco, 55 SCRA 107); and lawyers have a duty to
maintain respect for the courts and judicial officers.
(Montecillo vs. Gica, 60 SCRA 234).
It is the duty of the Bar to endeavor to prevent political
considerations from outweighing judicial fitness in the
selection of judges. It should protest earnestly and
actively against the appointment or election of those who
are unsuitable for the Bench; and it should strive to have
elevated thereto only those willing to forego other
employments whether of a business, political or other
character, which may embarrass their free and fair
consideration of questions before them for decision. The
aspiration of lawyers for judicial positions should be
governed by an impartial estimate of their ability to add
honor to the office and not by a desire for the distinction
the position may bring to themselves. (Canons of
Professional Ethics, 2).
It is the right of the lawyer to undertake the defense of
a person accused of crime, regardless of his personal
opinion as to the guilt of the accused; otherwise, innocent
persons, victims only of suspicious circumstances, might
be denied proper defense. Having undertaken such
defense, the lawyer is bound, by all fair and honorable
means, to present every defense that
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the law of the land permits, to the end that no person may
be deprived of life or liberty, but by due process of law.
The primary duty of a lawyer engaged in public
prosecution is not to convict, but to see that justice is
done. The suppression of facts or the secreting of witnesses
capable of establishing the innocence of the accused is
highly reprehensible. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 5).
It is the duty of a lawyer at the time of retainer to
disclose to the client all the circumstances of his relations
to the parties, and any interest in or connections with the
controversy, which might influence the client in the
selection of counsel.
It is unprofessional to represent conflicting interests,
except by express consent of all concerned given after a
full disclosure of facts. Within the meaning of this canon,
a lawyer represents conflicting interests when, in behalf of
one client, it is his duty to contend for that which duty to
another client requires him to oppose.
The obligation to represent the client with undivided
fidelity and to divulge his secrets or confidence forbids
also the subsequent acceptance of retainers or
employment from others in matters adversely affecting
any interest of the client with respect to which confidence
has been reposed. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 6).
A lawyer should endeavor to obtain full knowledge of
his client’s cause before advising thereon, and he is bound
to give a candid opinion of the merits and probable result
of pending or contemplated litigation. The miscarriages to
which justice is subject, by reason of surprises and
disappointments in evidence and witnesses, and through
mistakes of juries and errors of Courts, even though only
occasional, admonish lawyers to beware of bold and
confident assurances to clients, especially where the
employment may depend upon such assurance. Whenever
the controversy will admit of fair judgment, the client
should be advised to avoid or to end the litigation.
(Canons of Professional Ethics, 8).
 Nothing operates more certainly to create or to foster
popular prejudice against lawyers as a class, and to
deprive the profession of that full measure of public
esteem and confidence

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which belongs to the proper discharge of its duties than

does the false claim, often set up by the unscrupulous in
defense of questionable transactions, that it is the duty of
the lawyers to do whatever may enable him to succeed in
winning his client’s cause.
It is improper for a lawyer to assert in argument his
personal belief in his client’s innocence or in the justice of
his cause.
The lawyer owes “entire devotion to the interest of the
client, warm zeal in the maintenance and defense of his
rights and the exertion of his utmost learning and
ability,” to the end that nothing be taken or be withheld
from him, save by the rules of law, legally applied. No fear
of judicial disfavor or public unpopularity should restrain
him from the full discharge of his duty. In the judicial
forum the client is entitled to the benefit of any and every
remedy and defense that is authorized by the law of the
land, and he may expect his lawyer to assert every such
remedy or defense. But it is steadfastly to be borne in
mind that the great trust of the lawyer is to be performed
within and not without the bounds of the law. The office of
attorney does not permit, much less does it demand of him
for any client, violation of law or any manner of fraud or
chicanery. He must obey his own conscience and not that
of his client. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 15).
A lawyer should use his best efforts to restrain and to
prevent his clients from doing those things which the
lawyer himself ought not to do, particularly with reference
to their conduct towards Courts, judicial officers, jurors,
witnesses and suitors. If a client persist in such wrong-
doing the lawyer should terminate their relation. (Canons
of Professional Ethics, 16).
A lawyer should always treat adverse witnesses and
suitors with fairness and due consideration, and he should
never minister to the malevolence or prejudices of a client
in the trial or conduct of a cause. The client can not be
made the keeper of the lawyer’s conscience in professional
matters. He has no right to demand that his counsel shall
abuse the opposite party or indulge in offensive
personalities. Improper speech is not excusable on the
ground that it is what the client would say if

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speaking in his own behalf. (Canons of Professional

Ethics, 18). It is the lawyer’s duty as a member of the Bar
“to abstain from all offensive personality and to advance
no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or
witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with
which he is charged.” (Surigao Mineral Reservation Board
vs. Cloribel, 31 SCRA 1).
It is the duty of the lawyer not only to his client, but
also to the Courts and to the public to be punctual in
attendance, and to be concise and direct in the trial and
disposition of causes. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 21).
Lawyers should expose without fear or favor before the
proper tribunals corrupt or dishonest conduct in the
profession, and should accept without hesitation
employment against a member of the Bar who has
wronged his client. The counsel upon the trial of a cause
in which perjury has been committed owes it to the
profession and to the public to bring the matter to the
knowledge of the prosecuting authorities. The lawyer
should aid in guarding the Bar against the admission to
the profession of candidates unfit or unqualified because
deficient in either moral character or education. He
should strive at all times to uphold the honor and to
maintain the dignity of the profession and to improve not
only the law but the administration of justice. (Canons of
Professional Ethics, 29).
No client, corporate or individual, however, powerful,
nor any cause, civil or political, however important, is
entitled to receive nor should any lawyer render any
service or advice involving disloyalty to the laws whose
ministers we are, disrespect of the judicial office, which we
are bound to uphold, or corruption of any person or
persons exercising a public office or private trust, or
deception or betrayal of the public. When rendering any
such improper service or advice, the lawyer invites and
merits stern and just condemnation. Correspondingly, he
advances the honor of his profession and the best interests
of his client when he renders service or gives advice
tending to impress upon the client and his undertaking
exact compliance with the strictest principles of moral law.
He must also observe and advise his client to observe the
statute law, though until a statute shall have been
construed and interpreted by competent adjudication he
is free and is entitled to
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advice as to its validity and as to what he conscientiously

believes to be its just meaning and extent. But above all,
a lawyer will find his highest honor in a deserved
reputation for fidelity to private trust and to public duty,
as an honest man and as a patriotic and loyal citizen.
(Canons of Professional Ethics, 32).
It is the duty of a lawyer to preserve his client’s
confidences. This duty outlasts the lawyer’s employment,
and extends as well to his employees; and neither of them
should accept employment, which involves or may involve
the disclosure or use of these confidences, either for the
private advantages of the client, without his knowledge
and consent, and even though there are other available
sources of such information. A lawyer should not continue
employment when he discovers that this obligation
prevents the performance of his full duty to his former or
to his new client.
If a lawyer is accused by his client, he is not precluded
from disclosing the truth in respect to the accusation. The
announced intention of a client to commit a crime is not
included within the confidences which he is bound to
respect. He may properly make such disclosures as may be
necessary to prevent the act or presence of his client after
full disclosure. (Canons of Professional Ethics, 37). Any
information acquired by counsel during the attorney-
client relationship is confidential. An attorney owes
loyalty to his client not only in the case in which he has
represented him but also after the relation of attorney
and client has terminated and it is not good practice to
permit him afterwards to defend in another case another
person against his former client under the pretext that
the case is distinct from, and independent of the former
case. (Nombrado vs. Hernandez, Administrative Case No.
555, 26 SCRA 13).
Duties of attorneys.—It is the duty of an attorney:

(a) To maintain allegiance to the Republic of the

Philippines and to support the Constitution and
obey the laws of the Philippines;
(b) To maintain the respect due to the courts of justice
and judicial officers;
(c) To counsel or maintain such actions or
proceedings only as appear to him to be just, and
such defenses only as he believes to be honestly
debatable under the law;

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(d) To employ, for the purpose of maintaining the

causes confided to him, such means only as are
consistent with truth and honor, and never seek to
 mislead the judge or any judicial officer by an
artifice or false statement of fact or law;
(e) To maintain inviolate the confidence, and at every
peril to himself, to preserve the secret of his client,
and to accept no compensation in connection with
his client’s business except from him or with his
knowledge and approval.
(f) To abstain from all offensive personality, and to
advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or
reputation of a party or witness, unless required
by the justice of the cause with which he is
charged;
(g) Not to encourage either the commencement or the
continuance of an action or proceeding, or delay
any man’s cause, from any corrupt motive or
interest;
(h) Never to reject, for any consideration personal to
himself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed;
(i) In the defense of a person accused of crime, by all
fair and honorable means, regardless of his
personal opinion as to the guilt of the accused, to
present every defense that the law permits, to the
end that no person may be deprived of life or
liberty, but by the process of law. ((Rule 138,
Section 20, Rules of Court).

§ 3. Suspension and Disbarment

While suspension is the act of the court prohibiting an

attorney from practicing law for a certain definite period
(Archer, Ethical Obligations of the Lawyer, p. 282),
disbarment is the act of the court in withdrawing from an
attorney the right to practice law. (Black’s Law
Dictionary, 371). Disbarment is likewise defined as a
quasi-summary proceeding instituted and prosecuted
before an appropriate court for the purpose of depriving
an attorney of his license to practice his profession by
reason of some misconduct. (Ballantine Law Dictionary,
379).
 The distinction between suspension, and disbarment is
that: in suspension, the deprivation of an attorney’s right
to practice his profession is merely for a certain period,
while in disbarment, the deprivation is more or less
permanent. Another distinction between the two is that in
suspension, this

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power is a prerogative vested upon the Court of Appeals

and the Court of First Instance, while in disbarment, this
authority rests exclusively upon the Supreme Court.
The two primary objects of disbarment and suspension
are: (1) To compel the attorney to deal fairly and honestly
with his clients; and (2) To remove from the profession a
person whose misconduct has proved him unfit to be
entrusted with the duties and responsibilities belonging to
the office of an attorney. (Ex Parte Brounsall, 66 C. 66
C.J. 581). Disbarment is intended to protect the court and
the public from the misconduct of officers of the court and
to protect the administration of justice by requiring that
those who exercise this important function shall be
competent, honorable and reliable men in whom courts
and clients may repose confidence. (Paras vs. Vailoces,
Administrative Case No. 439, 1 SCRA 954).
A member of the Bar may be removed or suspended
from his office as attorney by the Supreme Court for any
deceit, malpractice, or other gross misconduct in such
office, or by reason of his conviction of a crime involving
moral turpitude, or for any violation of the oath which he
is required to take before admission to practice, or for a
willful disobedience of any lawful order of a superior court,
or for corruptly or wilfully appearing as an attorney for a
party to a case without authority so to do. The practice of
soliciting cases at law for the purposes of gain, either
personally or through paid agents or brokers, constitutes
malpractice. (Rule 138, Section 27, Rules of Court).
Another ground for suspension or disbarment is found in
Article 209, of the Revised Penal Code. Said article states:
“Betrayal of trust by an attorney or solicitor—Revelation of
secrets.—In addition to the proper administrative action,
the penalty of prision correccional in its minimum period,
or a fine ranging from 200 to 1,000 pesos, or both, shall be
imposed upon any attorney-at-law or solicitor (procurador
judicial) who, by any malicious breach of professional
duty or inexcusable negligence or ignorance, shall
prejudice his client, or reveal any of the secrets of the
latter learned by him in his professional capacity. The
same penalty shall be imposed upon an attorney-at-law or
solicitor (procurador judicial) who, having undertaken the
defense of a client or having received confidential in-
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formation from said client in a case, shall undertake the

defense of the opposing party in the same case, without
the consent of his first client.”
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.
(Rule 138, Section 28, Rules of Court).
Upon such suspension the Court of Appeals or the
Court of First Instance shall forthwith transmit to the
Supreme Court a certified copy of the order of suspension
and full statement of the facts upon which the same was
based. Upon the receipt of such certified copy and
statement, the Supreme Court shall make full
investigation of the facts involved and make such order
revoking or extending the suspension, or removing the
attorney from his office as such, as the facts warrant.
(Rule 138, Section 29, Rules of Court).
No attorney shall be removed or suspended from the
practice of his profession, until he has full opportunity
upon reasonable notice to answer the charges against
him, to produce witnesses in his own behalf, and to be
heard by himself or counsel. But if upon reasonable notice
he fails to appear and answer the accusation, the court
may proceed to determine the matter ex parte. (Rule 138,
Section 30, Rules of Court).

§ 4. Conclusions

In America (and the Philippines), where the stability of

Courts and of all departments of government rests upon
the approval of the people, it is particularly essential that
the system for establishing and dispensing justice be
developed to a high point of efficiency and so maintained
that the public shall have absolute confidence in the
integrity and impartiality of its administration. The
future of the Republic, to a great extent, depends upon
our maintenance of justice pure and un-sullied. It cannot
be so maintained unless the conduct and the motives of
the members of our profession are such as to merit

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the approval of all just men. (Canons of Professional

Ethics, Preamble).
It is in this regard that the Supreme Court, which has
an inherent and independent authority over lawyers, does
not hesitate to purge the members of the Bar who have
not lived up to their sworn duties. However, the Court also
protects attorneys from unjust accusations that may be
brought against them; this is in line with the judicial oath
to administer justice, particularly among members of the
legal profession.
The case subject of annotation is an example of a just
dismissal of a disbarment case for the protection of a
lawyer. In this case, the complainant filed a disbarment
case against the respondent on the grounds of deceit and
grossly immoral conduct. In resolving the issues, the
 Court ruled that the evidence adduced by the
complainant has failed to establish any cause for
disciplinary action against the respondent. As the
Solicitor General said in his report, “From all indications,
there is little room for doubt that she filed this disbarment
case not in redress of a wrong, for there was no wrong
committed. It was a voluntary act of indiscretion between
two consenting adults who were fully aware of the
consequences of their deed and for which they were
responsible only to their private consciences.” (Abaigar vs.
Paz, Adm. Case No. 997, September 10, 1979).
This case shows how imperative it is for a lawyer to
exercise decorum at all times. For if a lawyer fails in this
aspect, he discredits the noble profession to which he
belongs and he violates his sworn oath. This being so, he
has no business being a member of a sacred calling and so
he should be purged from among its ranks.

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