I.
INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION
a. Definition
 Legal Profession – a branch of the administration of justice whose
main purpose is to aid in the doing of justice according to law
between state and the individual and between man and man.
b. History of the Legal Profession
 Source of PH Legal Education
o Spain (Roman Civil Law, Canon Law)
o US (English Common Law)
o Indo-Malayan (Islamic Law)
o Pre-Spanish (Code of Kalantiao)
 Legal education in the PH began with the establishment of the
Faculty of Civil Law UST
 1910 – UP College of Law opened
 Sec. 6 Rule 138 of ROC – pre-law requisites are 4-year
bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences and the law course to four
years of legal studies.
 Bar Subjects – civil law, criminal law, remedial law, legal ethics
and practical exercises, commercial law, political law, taxation,
labor laws, law on public corporation and public officers, public
and private international law
c. Nature of the Office of an Attorney
 Attorney – one who aids in the administration of justice; class of
persons who are by license constituted officers of courts of
justice, and who are empowered to appear and prosecute and/or
defend someone and on whom peculiar duties, responsibilities,
and liabilities are devolved by law in consequence.
 A lawyer is above all an officer of the court.
 The authority of a lawyer commences with his retainer. If the
person he appears for does not disclaim his authority, he is
deemed bound by the attorney’s actions or inactions.
 Membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with conditions.
 The legal profession is a branch of administration of justice and
not a mere moneymaking trade.
d. Distinction Between the Legal Profession and Business
 The practice of law is a profession which is a learned art as a
calling in the spirit of public service. It is not a business, because
the primary purpose of a business is economic gain while in a
profession gaining profits is merely incidental.
 Adequate compensation for every services rendered by a lawyer
should not be his primordial concern.
 3 Ideas Involved in a Profession
o Organization
o Learning
o Spirit of Public Service
 Standards of the Legal Profession
o Independence
o Accesibility
o Learning
II. PRACTICE OF LAW
a. Definition
 Practice of Law – the rendition of services requiring the
knowledge and the application of legal principles and technique to
serve the interest of another with his consent.
 Any activity in and out of court, which requires the application of
law, legal procedure, knowledge, training, and experience.
 Not limited to appearing in court or advising or assisting in
litigation.
 Embraces the preparation of pleadings, and other papers incident
to actions and special proceedings, conveyancing, the
preparation of legal instruments of all kinds, and the giving of
legal advice to clients.
 In People v. Villanueva,
o It was held that one is said to be in the practice of law id
he is habitually holding himself out to the public as a
lawyer and demanding payment for such services.
o The appearance of counsel on one occasion is not
determinative of engagement in the practice of law.
 In Cayetano v. Monsod, the criteria for the practice of law are:
1. Habituality – he must customarily or habitually hold himself
out to the public as a lawyer; practice is more than an isolated
appearance
2. Compensation – his professional services are available to the
public for compensation, as a source of his livelihood or in
consideration of his services
3. Application of law, legal principle, practice, or procedure
which calls for legal knowledge, training, and experience.
4. Attorney-client Relationship – practice of law presupposes the
existence of lawyer-client relationship. If a lawyer undertakes
in an activity which requires knowledge of law but no
relationship, it is not practice of law.
b. Admission to the Practice of Law
  The power to admit applicants to the practice of law is judicial in
nature and involves the exercise of judicial discretion (In re
Cunanan).
 The Supreme Court has the inherent power to integrate the
Philippine Bar in the exercise of its power to promulgate rules
concerning pleading, practice and procedure in all courts and the
admission to the practice of law (In re Integration of the PH Bar).
c. Qualifications
 Under Sec. 1 Rule 138 of ROC, any person who has been duly
licensed as a member of the bar and who is in good regular
standing is entitled to practice law.
 Qualifications under Sec. 2:
1. He/she must be a citizen of the PH
2. At least 21 years of age
3. Of good moral character
4. A resident of the PH
5. Must produce before the SC satisfactory evidence of his good
moral character and no charges against him, involving moral
turpitude, have been filed or are pending in any court of the
PH.
 He must also:
o Pass the bar exams
o Take the lawyer’s oath before the SC en banc
o Sign in the roll of attorneys
o Receiver a certificate from the Clerk of the SC of his
license to practice
 Moral Turpitude – acts of baseness, vileness, or depravity in the
duties which one person owes to another or to society in general
which is contrary to the usually accepted and customary rule of
right and duty which a person should follow.
 Under Sec. 3 of Rule 138, a citizen of the US who before July 4
1946 were duly licensed members of the PH bar, in active
practice in PH courts and in good and regular standing can be
allowed to continue such practice after taking the oath of office.
 Under Sec. 4 of Rule 138, applicant for admission to the bar who
are Filipinos and enrolled attorneys in the US SC or any circuit
court of appeals or district court therein in, or in the highest court
of any state or territory of the US, and have practices for at least
5 years in any of the said courts, such practice began before July
4, 1946, and has never been suspended or disbarred, can be
admitted to the bar without examination
 Appearance of a Non-Lawyer in Court
o Before the MTC – a party may conduct his litigation
personally with the aid of a friend or agent. However, the
agent or the friend may not habitually engage in
representing a party for that will constitute unauthorized
practice of law.
o In criminal cases, of a party cannot afford the services of
a counsel de parte, he shall be provided with a counsel de
officio.
 Counsel de officio – expected to render service
and to exert his best efforts on behalf of an
indigent accused.
o In localities where a licensed member of the bar is not
available, the MuTC may assign a person (who is not a
member of the bar) who is a resident of the province and
of good refute for probity and ability to aid the defendant.
o Under the Labor Code, a union representative may
appear before the NLRC, labor arbiter, or arbitrator.
o A law student may practice as permitted by the rules.
o Those authorized to represent the government may
appear.
III. PRIVILEGES AND DUTIES OF LAWYERS
a. Privileges of an Attorney
1. The right and the privilege to practice law during good behavior
before any judicial, quasi judicial, or administrative tribunal.
2. The presumption of regularity in the discharge of his functions.
3. Immunity from liability to 3rd person, in the performance of his
obligations to his client, insofar as he does not materially depart
from his character as a quasi-judicial officer.
4. His statements, if relevant, pertinent, or material to the subject of
judicial inquiry are absolutely privileged.
5. He has the right to respectfully protest any unwarranted treatment
of a witness or any unjustified delay in the administration of
justice.
6. Passing the bar is equivalent to a first grade civil service eligibility
for any position in the government which require knowledge of the
law, or a second grade civil service eligibility for any other
government position.
b. Four-Fold Duties of a Lawyer
1. His duties towards the courts
2. His duties towards the society
3. His duties towards his colleagues in the profession
4. His duties to his client
c. Duties of Attorneys
Under Sec. 20 of Rule 138, the duties of a lawyer are:
a. To maintain allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and to of the prosecution office or the Regional State Prosecutor
support the Constitution and obey the laws of the Philippines. subject to the approval of the court.
b. To observe and 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.
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 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;
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 due process
of law.

d. Duties of Counsel de Officio

 Renders counsel to indigent clients.
 Has a high duty to a poor litigant as to a paying client.
 Should have a bigger dose of social conscience and a little less
self-interest.
e. Duties of a Private Prosecutor
 May intervene in the prosecution of a criminal action when
the offended party is entitled to indemnity and has not waived
expressly, reserved, or instituted the civil action for damages.
 May prosecute the accused up to the end of the trial even in
the absence of the public prosecutor if authorized by the chief