Legal Ethics

Definition: The branch of moral science which treats of

the duties which an attorney owes to the court, to his
client, to his colleagues in the profession and to the
public as embodied in the Constitution, Rules of Court,
the Code of Professional Responsibility, Canons of
Professional Ethics, jurisprudence, moral law and
special laws.
Prescribed Subject: a prescribed subject in all law
schools
- It provides the needed moral foundation in the
study of law intended to guide the student
throughout his life.

Importance of Code of Professional Responsibility

a. provided the legal profession an impression of identity
and sense of independence attuned to the local
traditions, practices and customs in the country.
b. this sense of identity and independence has given the
Filipino lawyer the feeling of pride and emancipation
from foreign Canons.
Definition of Terms:
Bar the whole body of attorneys and counselors;
collectively, the members of the legal profession. The
collectivity of persons whose names appear in the Roll of
Attorneys; IBP.
Bench the whole body of judges

Significance of Legal Ethics:

- sets of governing rules to limit the parameters
and tame the exercise of the profession.
- Will guard against the abuses and ills of the
profession such as dishonesty, deceit,
immorality, negligence, slothness, lack of
diligence and the many forms of malpractice of
the members of the Bar.
1) It will raise the standard of the legal
profession;
2) Encourage and enhance the respect of the
law;
3)
assure
an
effective
and
efficient
administration of justice;
4) Assist in the keeping and maintenance of law
and order in coordination with the other
Departments of the Government.
5) Provides basis for the weeding out of the unfit
and misfit in the legal profession for the
protection of the public.
Origin of Legal Ethics
1) Canons of Professional Ethics framed by the
American Bar Association in 1908 and adopted in the
Philippines in 1946, after its revision.

Bar Admission act by which one is licensed to

practice before courts of a particular state or jurisdiction
after satisfying certain requirements such as bar
examinations, period of residency or admission on
grounds of reciprocity after period of years as member of
bar of another jurisdiction.
Lawyer general term for a person trained in the law
and authorized to advise or represent others in legal
matters. A person licensed to practice law.
Trial Lawyer a lawyer who personally handles cases
in court, administrative agencies or boards which means
engaging in actual trial work either for the prosecution or
for the defense of cases of clients.
Practicing Lawyer one engaged in the practice of law.
Practice of Law any activity, in or out of court, which
requires the application of law, legal procedure,
knowledge, training and experience. To give notice or
render any kind of service, which device or service
requires the use in any degree of legal knowledge or
skill.
NOTE: ALL trial lawyers are practicing lawyers, but NOT
ALL practicing lawyers are trial lawyers.

2) Supreme Court Decisions

3) Statutes CC, RPC and special laws
4) Constitution
5) Treatises and Publications

Client - one who engages the services of a lawyer for

legal advice or for purposes of prosecuting or defending
a suit in his behalf and usually for a fee.

Code of Professional Responsibility

- Present and main basis of legal ethics.
- Embodiment into one Code of the various
pertinent and subsisting rules, guidelines and
standards on the rule of conduct of lawyers
sourced from the Constitution, Rules of Court,
Canons of Professional Ethics, statutes, special
laws, treatises and decisions which must be
observed by all members of the Bar in the
exercise of their profession whether in or out of
court as well as in their public and private lives.

Attorneys-at-Law class of persons who are by

license, officers of courts, empowered to appear,
prosecute ad defend, and upon whom peculiar duties,
responsibilities and liabilities are developed by law as a
consequence.
- A person admitted to practice law in his
respective state and authorized to perform both
civil and criminal legal functions for clients,
including drafting of legal documents, giving of
legal advice, and representing such before
courts, administrative agencies, boards, etc.

Synonymous w/ counselor-at-law, lawyer,

attorney, counsel, abogado and boceros.

NOTE: The term attorney is reserved to those who,

having obtained the necessary degree in the study of
law and successfully taken the Bar Examinations, have
been admitted to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines
and remain members thereof in good standing; and it is
they only who are authorized to practice law in this
jurisdiction.