Chapter 1:

Lawyer and Society

CANON 1 – A lawyer shall uphold the constitution, obey the laws
of the land and promote respect for law and for legal processes

Duties of Attorneys:
• to maintain allegiance and to support the Constitution and obey the laws
• to observe and maintain the respect due to the courts of justice and
judicial officers
• to counsel or maintain such actions or proceedings only as appear to him
as just
• 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
• to maintain inviolate the confidence, to preserve the secrets of his client,
and to accept no compensation in connection with his client’s business
except from him or with his knowledge and approval
• 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
• not to encourage either the commencement or the continuance of an
action or proceeding, or delay any man’s cause for any corrupt motive or
interest
• never to reject, for any consideration personal to himself, the cause of the
defenseless or oppressed
• to present every defense that the law permits, to the end that no person
may be deprived of life or liberty, but by due process of law
 Rule 1.01 – A lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct.
 

• Conviction for crimes involving moral turpitude:

1. Estafa - defrauds another causing him to suffer damage, by means of unfaithfulness

or abuse of confidence, or of false pretense opt fraudulent acts. (A.C No. 6273 Vaflor-
Fabroa vs. Paguinto)
2. Bribery
-the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of i
nfluencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties.
3. Murder – unlawfully kills another human being
4. Seduction -
a man entices a woman to have unlawful sexual relations with him by means of persu
asions, solicitations, promises, or bribes without the use of physical force or violence.
5. Abduction - The act of restraining another through the use or threat of deadly force
or through fraudulent persuasion.
6. Smuggling - illegal transport of goods, especially across borderlines. 
7. falsification of public documents
• Morality as understood in law - This is a human standard based on
natural moral law which is embodied in man’s conscience and which
guides him to do good and avoid evil.
• Moral Turpitude: any thing that is done contrary to justice, honesty,
modesty or good morals.
• Immoral Conduct: 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 (Arciga vs.
Maniwag, 106 SCRA 591).
• Grossly Immoral Conduct: One that is so corrupt and false as to
constitute a criminal act or so unprincipled or disgraceful as to be
reprehensible to a high degree; it is a WILLFUL, FLAGRANT or
SHAMELESS ACT which shows a MORAL INDIFFERENCE to the
opinion of respectable members of the community. (Narag vs.
Narag, 1998)
 .
Rule 1.02 – A lawyer shall not counsel or abet activities aimed at defiance of the law or at lessening confidence in the legal system

All acts of lawyers which are unlawful, dishonest, immoral or

deceitful corrode public confidence in the legal system.

• Cosmos Foundry Shop Workers Union vs. Lo Bu 63 SCRA 321

Rule 1.03 – A lawyer shall not, for any corrupt motive or interest, encourage any
suit or proceeding or delay any man’s cause.

• Volunteer legal advice to bring lawsuit is unethical. (Except in rare cases)

• Tempering Client’s Propensity to litigate. (Cobb-Perez vs. Lanyin, 24 SCRA 291)
• Lawyer should not be an instigator of controversy but a mediator for concord and conciliator for
compromise.
• Appealing a case for purposes of delay is obstruction of justice. (Samar Mining OC. Inc. vs.
Arnado 24 SCRA 402)
• Some instances of delay condemned by the Supreme Court:
1. Resort to technicalities as a means to frustrate justice
2. Befuddling of the issues in the case by counsel which invariably will be exposed for what
they are.
3. Filing of multiple or repetitious petitions.
4. Filing of several actions covering the same subject matter or seeking substantial identical
relief.
5. Filing frivolous appeals for purposes of delay.
6. Filing of motions for postponement and other kinds of motions for dilatory purposes.
7. Indiscriminate filing of suits against a party clearly intended for harassment.
 Rule 1.04 – A lawyer shall encourage his clients to avoid, end or settle the
controversy if it will admit of a fair settlement.

•If a lawyer finds that his client’s cause is defenseless, it is his burden/duty to advise the latter to acquiesce and
submit, rather than traverse the incontrovertible.
•It is unprofessional for a lawyer to volunteer advice to bring a lawsuit, except in rare cases where the blood,
relationship or trust makes it his duty to do so.
•Temper client’s propensity to litigate.
•Should not be an instigator of controversy but a mediator for concord and conciliator for compromise.
•The law violated need not be a penal law. “Moral Turpitude” – everything which is done contrary to justice,
honesty, modesty or good morals.
•Give advice tending to impress upon the client and his undertaking exact compliance with the strictest principles
of moral law.
•Until a statute shall have been construed and interpreted by competent adjudication, he is free and is entitled to
advise as to its validity and as to what he conscientiously believes to be its just meaning and extent.
•A lawyer has the obligation not to encourage suits. This is so as to prevent barratry and ambulance chasing.
•Barratry – offense of frequently exciting and stirring up quarrels and suits, either at law or otherwise; Lawyer’s
act of fomenting suits among individuals and offering his legal services to one of them.
•Ambulance Chasing – Act of chasing victims of accidents for the purpose of talking to the said victims (or
relatives) and offering his legal services for the filing of a case against the person(s) who caused the accident(s).