JUDGE ELIZA B.

YU, LLM
ISSUES ON LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ETHICS
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS GRADUATE SCHOOL

With all the laws on Legal and Judicial Ethics, and all the seminars,
conferences, symposia conducted for lawyers and judges, why are there
violations of these Circulars, Memoranda, Canons and Ethics. Discuss
exhaustively.

Lawyers violate laws on Legal and Judicial Ethics for various reasons.
First, this is in accordance with the law of nature, that is, the fulfilment
of the basic needs in life in order to survive. When a lawyer has nothing to eat
for himself and for his family, he will do things that is a contrary to morals,
honesty and good customs. There are lawyers who engage in barratry and
ambulance chasing to earn for a living. This is a clear violation of Rule 1.03 of
our Code of Professional Responsibility, to quote, A lawyer shall not, for any
corrupt motive or interest , encourage any suit or proceeding or delay any
mans cause. To these classes of lawyers belong, to name a few, those lawyers
who foment false and baseless litigations clogging the courts dockets (See
Banogon vs. Zerna 154 SCRA 593); those lawyers who delay the cases for
corrupt motive (see Jesalva vs. Bautista 105 PHIL 348); those lawyers who
misappropriated a clients funds (Co vs. Bernardino 285 SCRA 102;
Resurrecion vs. Sayson Administrative Case No. 1037, December 14,
1998); those lawyers who issued a bouncing checks (People vs. Tuanda 181
SCRA 692); or those lawyers who improperly solicited clients and advertise the
profession like a business not as a vocation (Director of Religious Affairs vs.
Bayot 74 PHIL 579). It is worthy to note that a more difficult economic life
results to an easier violation of the laws on legal and Judicial ethics. The poor
lawyers resort to evil, if not deceitful ways and means to extract money from
the clients. The average lawyers who are in dire need of money will do all
desperate things to win cases for their clients at all costs even sacrificing our
laws of ethics just like the poor lawyers. Also, the rich lawyers resort to variety
forms of malpractice to sustain their extravagant lifestyles like travelling
abroad or sending their children to expensive schools. On the other hand,
judges accept bribes out of sheer necessity like the rich lawyers (Rafols Jr. vs.
Dizon Jr. Am No. RTJ-98-1426, January 31, 2006).
Second, this is in accordance with the law of nurture, that is, the
environmental factors such as the family background, or friends associated
with. When a lawyer is brought up by his family wrongly, chances are, he will
have a wrong set of values that deviate from the norms of morality. For
example, if a lawyer is brought up in an environment that gives premium to
filthy language, the lawyer is more likely use disrespectful language in courts.
For example, in Montecillo vs. Gica 60 SCRA 235, our Supreme Court held it
foul for a lawyers veil threat to prosecute those who knowingly rendered
unjust judgment with innuendo that the Court of Appeals allowed itself to be

deceived. Likewise, those lawyers who engaged in adulterous or bigamous

relationships (Terre vs. Terre, 211 SCRA 7), they may have been brought up
that way or they may have been victims of broken homes themselves.
Sometimes, the institutions such as schools attended play an important role in
producing a lawyer of good moral character and right conduct. If a law student
is a dishonest and cheater, more likely, he will be a dishonest and cheater as a
lawyer like giving false statements under oath in an Information Sheet for an
application as Chief of Police ( Calo vs. Degamo 20 SCRA 447). Another
example, is the In RE 2003 Bar Exams, Bar Matter No. 1222 case, the act of
Atty. Danilo De Guzman in downloading the Mercantile Law Bar Exams
questions is a grave misconduct. He did it for pecuniary profit and give undue
advantage to the Beta Sigma Lambda Fraternity examiners. Had the laws on
ethics he learned from his alma mater been absorbed by his heart during his
law school days, he will not pay such a high price.
All the laws on Legal and Judicial Ethics, and all the seminars,
conferences, symposia conducted for lawyers and judges cannot deter the
violations of these Circulars, Memoranda, Canons and Ethics when the law of
nature and law of nurture exist for the purpose of disregarding these manmade laws. The attendance of seminars, conferences and symposia do not
guarantee the immediate transformation of the lawyers and judges into morally
upright and ethical members of the legal profession. Neither can laws on Legal
and Judicial Ethics do the same. However, all the laws on Legal and Judicial
Ethics, and all the seminars, conferences, symposia conducted for lawyers and
judges can be helpful to facilitate in the renewal of rotten values pervading in
our legal profession and in our judiciary. This should be coupled with strict
enforcement and implementation of laws on ethics. To attain this, there must
be a strong Supreme Court Chief Justice and Associate Justices who should
lead us towards moral recovery, if not renewal.