Providing Efficient

and Convenient
Legal Services
Miguel Pillas
Group 2

CANON 2

Pertains to providing efficient and

convenient Legal Services compatible with
the Independence, Integrity, and
Effectiveness of the Profession.

Rule 2.01 A lawyer shall not reject except

for valid reasons, the cause of the
oppressed.

Rule 2.02 In such cases, even if the lawyer

does not accept a case, he shall not refuse
to render legal advice to the person
concerned if only to the extent necessary to
safeguard the latters rights.

Rule 2.01

A Lawyer shall not reject, except for valid

reasons, the cause of the defenseless or the
oppressed.

Founded upon the premise that the practice

of Law is a Noble Service.

Safeguarding the rights of the defenseless

and the oppressed pursuant to their
Constitutional rights.

Rule 138

Attorneys and Admission to the Bar

Sec. 31 Attorneys for destitute litigants*

A court may assign an attorney to render

professional aid free of charge to any party in a case,
if upon investigation it appears that the party is
destitute and unable to employ an attorney, and that
the services of counsel are necessary to secure the
ends of justice and to protect the rights of the party.
It shall be the duty of the attorney so assigned to
render the required service, unless he is excused
therefrom by the court for sufficient cause shown.

Rule 138, Sec 31

An Attorney is assigned to provide Legal Services to a

destitute litigant*.

*defined under Rule 141, Section 19 of the Rules of Court

and
Algura v. The Local Government Unit of the City of Naga (
G.R. No.150135, 30 October 2006, 506 SCRA 81
)

Determined through investigation.

Necessity of counsel is also determined in the same

investigation.

In order to uphold Justice and safeguard the rights of the

party in the case.

An attorney may be excused upon presentation of sufficient

cause to the Court.

Bar Matter No. 12

Rule seeking to enhance the duty of lawyers to

society as agents of social change and to the
courts as officers thereof.

Helping improve access to justice by the less

privileged members of society

Expediting the resolution of cases involving them.

Providing mandatory free legal services by members

of the bar and their active support thereof.

Established mandatory requirement for practicing

lawyers to render free legal aid services in all
involving indigent and pauper litigants.

Who are covered?

Practicing lawyers - Members of the Philippine Bar who appear for and in
behalf of parties in courts of law and quasi-judicial agencies, including but
not limited to the National Labor Relations Commission, National
Conciliation and Mediation Board, Department of Labor and Employment
Regional Offices, Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board and
National Commission for Indigenous Peoples.

Excluded:

(i) Government employees and incumbent elective officials not allowed by law
to practice;

(ii) Lawyers who by law are not allowed to appear in court;

(iii) Supervising lawyers of students enrolled in law student practice in duly

accredited legal clinics of law schools and lawyers of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and peoples organizations (POs) like the Free Legal
Assistance Group who by the nature of their work already render free legal
aid to indigent and pauper litigants and

(iv) Lawyers not covered under subparagraphs (i) to (iii) including those who
are employed in the private sector but do not appear for and in behalf of
parties in courts of law and quasi-judicial agencies.

Who are covered?

Indigent and pauper litigants are those

defined under Rule 141, Section 19 of the
Rules of Court and
Algura v. The Local Government Unit of the
City of Naga
(G.R. No.150135, 30 October 2006, 506 SC
RA 81)
;

Art. 141 Sec. 18

Indigent litigants:

(a) whose gross income and that of their immediate family do not
exceed four thousand (P4,000.00) pesos a month if residing in
Metro Manila, and three thousand (P3,000.00) pesos a month if
residing outside Metro Manila, and

(b) who do not own real property with an assessed value of more
than fifty thousand (P50,000.00) pesos shall be exempt from the
payment of legal fees.

To be entitled to the exemption herein provided, the litigant shall

execute an affidavit that he and his immediate family do not earn
a gross income abovementioned, nor they own any real property
with the assessed value aforementioned, supported by an
affidavit of a disinterested person attesting to the truth of the
litigant's affidavit.

Algura v. Local Government

Unit of Naga

Spouses Algura filed a petition for review on

Certiorari seeking the annulment of the decision in
their earlier case for the recovery of damages and lost
income from the illegal demolition of their boarding
house.

Their case in the lower court was dismissed for failure

to pay the required filing fees.

The Spouses then filed an Ex-Parte Motion to litigate

as indigent litigants, to which the couples pay slips
were attached declaring an income of Php 10,474 and
Php 3,616.99 with no real properties to their name.

Algura v. Local Government

Unit of Naga

Issue: Whether or not the spouses are pauper litigants,

and if so, are entitled to an exemption from filing fees.

Held: If the applicant for exemption meets the salary

and property requirements under Section 19 of Rule
141, then the grant of the application is mandatory. On
the other hand, when the application does not satisfy
one or both requirements, then the application should
not be denied outright; instead, the court should apply
the "indigency test" under Section 21 of Rule 3* and
use its sound discretion in determining the merits of
the prayer for exemption.

Sec 21 of Rule 3 states the indigency test which is a

determination of whether or not the applicant has no
money or property sufficient and available for food,
shelter and basic necessities for himself and his family.

RA 9999

Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010

It is the declared policy of the state to value the

dignity of every human person and guarantee
the rights of every individual, particularly those
who cannot afford the services of legal counsel.

The State shall guarantee the free legal

assistance to the poor and ensure that every
person who cannot afford the services of counsel
is provided with a competent and independent
counsel in order to secure the ends of justice
and the protection of the party.

Requirements

Section 4. Requirements for Availment. Lawyer or professional

partnership shall secure a certification from the Public Attorney's
Office (PAO), the Department of Justice (DOJ) or accredited
association of the Supreme Court indicating that the said legal
services to be provided are within the services defined by the
Supreme Court, and that the agencies cannot provide the legal
services to be provided by the private counsel.

For purpose of determining the number of hours actually provided by

the lawyer and/or professional firm in the provision of legal services,
the association and/or organization duly accredited by the Supreme
Court shall issue the necessary certification that said legal services
were actually undertaken.

The certification issued by, among others, the PAO, the DOJ and other
accredited association by the Supreme Court shall be submitted to
the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for purposes of availing the tax
deductions as provided for in this Act and to the DOJ for purposes of
monitoring.

Incentives

Section 5. Incentives to Lawyers. - For purposes of this

Act, a lawyer or professional partnerships rendering
actual free legal services, as defined by the Supreme
Court, shall be entitled to an allowable deduction from the
gross income, the amount that could have been collected
for the actual free legal services rendered or up to ten
percent (10%) of the gross income derived from the actual
performance of the legal profession, whichever is lower:
Provided, That the actual free legal services herein
contemplated shall be exclusive of the minimum sixty (60)hour mandatory legal aid services rendered to indigent
litigants as required under the Rule on Mandatory Legal
Aid Services for Practicing Lawyers, under