RAHMA S.

CHIO JD-3

January 29, 2023

QUIZ NO. 1
PROBLEM AREAS IN LEGAL ETHICS

1. What is Legal Ethics?

Legal Ethics is the embodiment of all principles of morality and refinement that should govern
the conduct of every member of the bar. It has also been broadly defined as the "living spirit of
the profession, which limits yet uplifts it as a livelihood" Specifically, it is a branch of moral
science, which treats the duties which an attorney owes to the court, to the client, 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
laws, and special laws.

2. Explain the power to regulate the practice of law.

The practice of law takes part in one of the most important functions of the state - the
administration of justice. Only by proper regulation of the practice of law will the interest of the
public be adequately safeguarded. The Constitution vests this power of control and regulation in
the Supreme Court. Independently or even in the absence of such constitutional provision, the
right to define and regulate the practice of law naturally and logically belongs to the judiciary
represented by the high tribunal since the practice of law is inseparably connected with the
exercise of its judicial power in the administration of justice.

The legislature, in the exercise of its police power, may, however, enact laws regulating the
practice of law to protect the public and promote public welfare. But the legislature may not pass
a law that will control the Supreme Court in the performance of its function to decide who may
enjoy the privilege of practicing law, and any law of that kind is unconstitutional as an invalid
exercise of legislative power. The power of the Supreme Court to regulate the practice of law
includes the authority to define that term, prescribe the qualifications of a candidate to and the
subjects of the bar examinations, decide who will be admitted to practice, discipline, suspend or
disbar any unfit and unworthy member of the bar, reinstate any disbarred or indefinitely
suspended attorney, ordain the integration of the Philippine Bar, punish for contempt any person
for unauthorized practice of lawn and, in general, exercise overall Supervision of the legal
profession.

3. Explain the nature of the office of an attorney.

An attorney possesses special powers of trust and confidence reposed in him by his client. He
occupies what may be called a quasi-judicial officer because he is in fact an officer of the court,
whose close and intimate relationship with the bench is best described by that phrase.

Like the court itself, he is an instrument or agency to advance the ends of justice. His
cooperation with the court is due whenever justice will be imperiled if cooperation is withheld.
He can thus be compelled to render professional services in favor of a destitute party in a case, to
do any specific act which is incumbent upon him as an officer of the court to perform.

As an officer of the court, an attorney is subject to the disciplinary authority of the court and to
its orders and directives with respect to his relation to the court as well as to his client. He is
continually accountable to the court for the manner in which he exercises his privilege to practice
law. His admission to the bar is upon the implied condition that his continued enjoyment of the
privilege conferred is dependent upon his remaining fit and safe to exercise it.

4. What are the privileges of a lawyer?

An attorney enjoys a number of privileges by reason of office and in recognition of the vital role
he plays in the administration of justice. A lawyer has the privilege and right to practice law
during good behavior before any judicial, or administrative tribunal. As part of the judicial
system, whose role as an advocate and as an officer of the court is necessary for the due
administration of justice, he has the privilege, as the first one to sit in judgment on every case, to
set the judicial machinery in motion.

An attorney enjoys the presumption of regularity in the discharge of his duty. He can stand up for
his right or the right of his client even in the face of a hostile court. He has the right to protest, in
a respectful language, any unwarranted treatment of a witness or any unjustified delay in the
administration of justice; he is allowed great latitude of pertinent comment in the furtherance of
the causes he upholds; and for the felicity of his client, he may be pardoned for some infelicities
of language.

An attorney has privileges other than those inherent in his status as a quasi-judicial officer. The
law makes his passing the bar examination equivalent to a first-grade civil service eligibility for
any position in the classified service in the government the duties of which require knowledge of
the law, or a second-grade civil service eligibility for any other government position which does
not prescribe proficiency in law as a qualification.

5. Explain the practice of law as a profession.

The law as a profession proceeds from the basic premise that membership in the bar is a
privilege burdened with conditions and carries with it the responsibility to live up to its exacting
standards and honored traditions. A person enrolled in its ranks is called upon to aid in the
performance of one of the basic purposes of the state the administration of justice. That the
practice of law is a profession explains why lawyers of repute and of eminence welcome their
designation as counsel de oficio, as an opportunity to manifest fidelity to the concept that law is a
profession. The law must be thought of as ignoring commercial standards of success. The
lawyer's conduct is to be measured not by the standards of trade and counting houses but by
those of his profession. The Code of Professional Responsibility, particularly the ethical rule
against advertising or solicitation of professional employment, rests on the fundamental postulate
that the practice of law is a profession.

The practice of law as a profession is a form of public trust, the performance of which is
entrusted to those who are qualified and those who possess good moral character. Legal
profession is a profession and not a trade, it is really to render public service and secure justice
for those who seek its aid.