Legal and Judicial Ethics by Ruben E.

Agpalo
Chapter I INTRODUCTORY
1.1 Preliminary.
Law is not a trade nor a craft but a
profession. Its basic ideal is to render public
service and secure justice for those who seek
its aid.
A lawyer, whether he be a private
practitioner or a public prosecutor, forms part
of the machinery of justice administered by
the courts.
1.2 Definitions
Legal Ethics is the embodiment of all
principles of morality and refinement that
should govern the conduct of every member
of the bar.
Also defined as the living spirit of the
profession, which limits yet uplifts it as a
livelihood.
It refers to that branch of moral science
which treats of the duties which an attorney
owes to the court, to his client, to his
colleagues in the profession and to the
public.
Terms to describe a member of the legal
profession: lawyers, attorney or attorney-atlaw,
advocate,
barrister,
counsel
or
counselor, proctor and solicitor.
A member of the Philippine bar is commonly
known by the term lawyer or attorney or
attorney-at-law or counsel, by the Spanish
word
abogado
or
the
Filipino
word
manananggol. The term has a fixed and
general signification and refers to that class
of persons who by license are officers of the
court and who are empowered to appear,
prosecute and defend and on whom peculiar
duties, responsibilities and liabilities are
devolved by law as a consequence.
A counsel is an adviser, a person
professionally engaged in the trial or
management of a cause in court; a legal
advocate managing a case at law.
General Rule: Only those who are admitted to
the Philippine Bar can be called attorneys.
Other terms encountered in the practice of
law: counsel de parte, counsel de oficio,
attorney of record, of counsel, amicus curiae,
bar and bench.
Counsel de parte - an attorney retained by a
party litigant, usually for a fee, to prosecute

or defend his cause in court. The terms

implies freedom of choice either on the part
of the attorney to decline or accepts the
employment or on the part of the litigant to
continue or terminate the retainer at any
time
Counsel de oficio an attorney by the court
to defend an indigent defendant in a criminal
action or to represent a destitute party in a
case. The term connotes little or no other
choice than the acceptance by the indigent
party of whoever is appointed as his counsel
and, unless excused therefrom by the court,
the discharge by the designated attorney of
the duty to faithfully and conscientiously
render effective legal assistance in favor of
such party.
Attorney of record the attorney whose
name, together with his address, is entered
in the record of a case as the designated
counsel of the party litigant in the case and
to whom judicial notices relative thereto are
sent.
Attorney of counsel an experienced lawyer,
who is usually a retired member of judiciary,
employed by law firms as consultant.
Amicus curiae an experienced and impartial
attorney invited by the court to appear and
help in the disposition of issues submitted to
it.
Bar refers to legal profession
Bench refers to judiciary
1.3 Power to regulate practice of law
Practice of law is a privilege impressed with
public interest.
Reason: the attorney owes duties not only to
his client but also to the court, to his
brethren in the profession and to the public,
and takes part in one of the most important
functions of the state the administration of
justice.
Attorney sets
motion
and
proceedings.

the judicial machinery in

participates
in
judicial

The interest of the public requires that the

function be faithfully discharged and
rendered only by those who are qualified, fit
and honest and who possess good moral
character.

Only by proper regulation of the practice of

law will the interest of the public be
adequately safeguarded.
The practice of law is so intimately affected
with public interest that it is both a right and
a duty of the state to control and regulate it
in order to promote the public welfare. The
practice of law is inseparably connected with
the exercise of its judicial power in the
administration of justice.
Legislature may enact laws regulating the
practice of law to protect the public and
promote the 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
suspend attorney, ordain the integration of
the Philippine Bar, punish for contempt any
person for unauthorized practice of law and,
in general, exercise overall supervision of the
legal profession. The Supreme court can,
moreover, exercise any other power as may
be necessary to elevate the standards of the
bar and preserve its integrity.
The power to regulate the practice of law is
not an arbitrary and despotic power, to be
exercised at the pleasure of the court, or
from passion, prejudice or personal hostility;
but it is the duty of the court to exercise it by
a sound and just judicial discretion, whereby
the rights and independence of the bar may
be as scrupulously guarded and maintained
by the court as the rights and dignity of the
court itself.