Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NAVALES
GROUP 4
THE LAWYER AND THE CLIENT
BENEDICTO HORNILLA and ATTY.
FEDERICO D. RICAFORT, complainants,
vs. ATTY. ERNESTO S. SALUNATIN,
respondent
[A.C. No. 5804, July 1, 2003]
Problem Area:
Issue:
The issue in this case whether Atty.
Sabitsana is guilty of misconduct for
representing conflicting interest.
Ruling:
• Three tests in determining whether a violation of the
above rules is present in a given case.
• By his acts, not only did Atty. Sabitsana agree to represent one
client against another client in the same action; he also accepted
a new engagement that entailed him to contend and oppose the
interest of his other client in a property in which his legal
services had been previously retained.
• By his acts, not only did Atty. Sabitsana agree to
represent one client against another client in the same
action; he also accepted a new engagement that entailed
him to contend and oppose the interest of his other client
in a property in which his legal services had been
previously retained.
Problem Area:
• She found out that the respondent never paid nor filed applications for
birth certificates. The complainant wrote a demand letter to the respondent
for the surrender of the NSO receipt and the return of the ₱10,000.00.
After the respondent refused to heed the complainant’s demands, the
complainant filed the present administrative complaint against him before
the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Commission on Bar Discipline (JBP-
CBD). The respondent returned to the complainant the amount of
seventeen thousand two hundred and eighty pesos (₱17,280.00), pursuant
to a compromise agreement that the parties entered into in exchange for
the dismissal of the criminal case for estafa filed by the complainant
against the respondent.
Issue:
Decision/ Penalty: