LEGAL PROFESSION

TOPIC: ADMISSION TO THE BAR; JUDGMENT; SC EXCLUSIVE POWER; PRACTICE OF LAW IS PRIVILEGE, NOT RIGHT; ETC.
IN RE: LANUEVO Ponente: Justice MAKASIAR, 1975 FACTS: The Supreme Court received a confidential letter from a bar examinee for recorrection and reevaluation of his answer in the 1971 Bar Examination Question, on the grounds, that the grades of at least one bar candidate were raised prior to the release of the results without any formal motion or request from the bar candidate. Acting on the letter, the court checked the records of the 1971 Bar and found that the grades in five subjects of a successful bar candidate with office code no. 952 (Ramon E. Galang) underwent some changes. Galang passed in 1971 Bar Examinations with a grade of 74.15% which was considered by the Court as 75%, the passing mark for the 1971 Bar Examinations. It appeared in the investigation that Bar Confidant Victorio Lanuevo deceived the examiners to recheck the papers of Galang and reconsider if his grades can be raised because he allegedly got high grades in other subjects. DECISION: Lanuevo and Galang were disbarred and their names were stricken from the Roll of Attorneys. Based on the investigation, the court upheld beyond reasonable doubt that: (a) Bar Confidant Lanuevo ingeniously maneuvered, by deceiving the examiners to recheck and reconsider the answers, the grades of respondent Galang from 66.25% to 74.15%. Lanuevo is found to be guilty of serious misconduct of having betrayed the trust and confidence reposed to him as a Bar Confidant, thereby impairing the integrity of the bar. (b) Respondent Galang falsely represented to the court that he had no criminal case pending in court, when it had been discovered that a case of slight physical injury was filed to him and is currently pending in the City Court of Manila. Such act of concealment from the court is a ground for the revocation of license. The court held in In Re: Felipe, The practice of the law is not an absolute right to be granted everyone who demands it, but is a privilege to be extended or withheld in the exercise of sound discretion.