Group 3 - Solicitation of Legal Services

8/18/2019 Group 3 - Solicitation of Legal Services

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• Solicitation is the act of asking aperson or group for money, help, etc.

•

To entice; to lure; to urge• To proposition someone


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A lawyer shall not do orpermit to be done any

act designed primarily

to solicit legal business.


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“Duty to public service and to the administration of justice

should be the primary consideration of lawyers, who must

subordinate their personal interests or what they owe to

themselves. The practice of law is a noble calling in whichemolument is a byproduct, and the highest eminence may

be attained without making much money.”


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1. Duty of public service of which the

emolument is a by-product, and in

which one may attain the highest

eminence without making much money

2. Relation as an officer of the

court to the administration ofjustice involving through sincerity,

integrity, and reliability


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3. Relation to clients in thehighest degree of fiduciary

4. Relation to colleagues at the bar

characterized by candor, fairness, and

unwillingness to resort to current business

methods of advertising and encroachment on

their practice, or dealing directly with their

clients


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“It is highly unethical for an attorney to advertise his

talents or skill as a merchant advertises his wares. Law

is a profession and not a trade. The lawyer degradeshimself and his profession who stoops to and adopts

the practices of mercantilism by advertising his services

or offering them to the public.”


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“It becomes our duty to condemn in no uncertain terms the

ugly practice of solicitation of cases by lawyers. It is

destructive of the honor of a great profession. It lowers the

standards of that profession. It works against the

confidence of the community in the integrity of the

members of the bar. It results in needless litigation and in

incenting to strife otherwise peacefully inclined citizens.”


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“It has been repeatedly stressed that the practice of

law is not a business. It is a profession in which duty to

public service, not money, is the primary consideration.

Lawyering is not primarily meant to be a money-making venture, and law advocacy is not a capital that

necessarily yields profits. The gaining of a livelihood

should be a secondary consideration.”


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screenshots from www.accralaw.com

http://www.accralaw.com/http://www.accralaw.com/


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Prof. Keating’s Law Office, How to Get Away with Murder


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Modest announcements in

newspapers, periodicals,

or magazines about the

opening of a law officeor a law firm stating the

names of the lawyers and

the address of the officeor firm is not improper.


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A lawyer shall not, for any

corrupt motive or interest,

encourage any suit or

proceeding or delay any man’s

cause.


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-Barratry is the offense of frequently enticingand stirring up quarrels and suits, either at law

or otherwise

-Lawyer’s act of formenting suits amongindividuals and offering his legal services to

one of them for monetary motives or purposes


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-Ambulance chasing is the lawyer’s act of chasing an

ambulance carrying the victim of an accident for the

purpose of talking to the said victim or relatives and

offering his legal services for the filing of a case

against the person who caused the accident.


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“If the lawyer lends money to the client in connection with the client’s

case, the lawyer in effect acquires an interest in the subject matter of

the case or an additional stake in its outcome. Either of these

circumstances may lead the lawyer to consider his own recovery

rather than that of his client, or to accept a settlement which may

take care of his interest in the verdict to the prejudice of the client in

violation of his duty of undivided fidelity to the client’s cause.”


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• NOT volunteer legal advice to

bring lawsuit

• temper his client’s propensity to

litigate

• NOT be an instigator of

controversy but a mediator forconcord and conciliator for

compromise


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A lawyer shall not use or permit the

use of any force, fraudulent,

misleading, deceptive, undignified,

self-laudatory, or unfair statement or

claim regarding his qualifications orlegal services.


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Use true, honest, fair, dignified andobjective information or statement of facts

Do not resort to false and misleadinginformation, and even if the information is true,

the manner of making it known must not be

undignified and demeaning to the legal

profession


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NICOMEDES TOLENTINO

Law Office

Consultancy & Maritime Services

w/ Financial Assistance

Fe Marie L. LabianoParalegal

1st MIJI Mansion, 2nd Flr. Rm. M-01 Tel: 362-7820

6th Ave., cor. M.H. Del Pilar, Fax: (632) 362-7821

Grace Park, Caloocan City Cel: 09262701719

SERVICES OFFERED:

CONSULTATION AND ASSISTANCE

TO OVERSEAS SEAMEN

REPARTIATED DUE TO ACCIDENT,INJURY, ILLNESS, SICKNESS, DEATH

AND INSURANCE BENEFIT CLAIMS

ABROAD


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“Labiano’s calling card contained the phrase "with financial

assistance." The phrase was clearly used to entice clients (who

already had representation) to change counsels with a promise of

loans to finance their legal actions. Money was dangled to lure

clients away from their original lawyers, thereby taking advantageof their financial distress and emotional vulnerability. This crass

commercialism degraded the integrity of the bar and deserved no

place in the legal profession.”


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”…in advertising himself as a self-styled ‘Annulment of Marriage

Specialist,’ he wittingly or unwittingly erodes and undermines not

only the stability but also the sanctity of an institution still considered

sacrosanct despite the contemporary climate of permissiveness in our

society. Indeed, in assuring prospective clients that an annulmentmay be obtained in four to six months from the time of the filing of

the case, he in fact encourages people, who might have otherwise

been disinclined and would have refrained from dissolving their

marriage bonds, to do so.”


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• seasoned trial lawyer?

• expert in a particular law or laws?

•

has not lost a case in his practice?


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“Atty. Paas was guilty of using a fraudulent,

misleading, and deceptive address that had no

purpose other than to try to impress either the courtin which his cases are lodged, or his client, that he

has close ties to a member of the judiciary.”


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Any false pretense by a lawyer intended to defraud,

mislead and deceive or to tout on his qualifications or

quality of his legal services is unethical – whether done

by him personally or through another with his permission.


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In the choice of a firm name, no

false, misleading or assumed name

shall be used. The continued use of

the name of a deceased partner is

permissible provided that the firmindicates in all its communications

that said partner is deceased.


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“The name appearing in the "Roll of Attorneys" is

"Dionisio D. Ramos". The attorney's roll or register is the

official record containing the names and signatures of

those who are authorized to practice law. A lawyer is

not authorized to use a name other than the one

inscribed in the Roll of Attorneys in his practice of law.”


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ART. 1815. Every partnership shall operate under a

firm name, which may or may not include the name of

one or more of the partners.

Those who, not being members of the partnership,

include their names in the firm name, shall be subject to

the liability of a partner.


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In all the communications of the law

firm, there is an INDICATION that said

partner is already dead

Use of a CROSS after the name

of the deceased partner is a

sufficient indication


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The purpose of retaining the name of a deceased

partner is to maintain clients who have been providedlegal services by the law firm. While the firm benefits

from the goodwill attached to the personality of the

deceased partner, that motivation is legitimate.


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Death of a partner does NOT extinguish client-lawyer relationship

Negligence of the lawyer assigned to the case is

negligence of the law firm


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When a partner accepts publicoffice, he shall withdraw from

the firm and his name shall be

dropped from the firm name

unless the law allows him topractice law concurrently.


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To prevent the law firm or partners from making

use of the name of the public official to attractlegal business and to avoid suspicion of undue

influence (Report of IBP Committee, p. 16).


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If the partner is appointed judge

If the partner is appointed or elected to a

government position which prohibits the practice of law


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“The rule disqualifying a municipal judge from engaging in the

practice of law seeks to avoid the evil of possible use of the

power and influence of his office to affect the outcome of a

litigation where he is retained as counsel. Compelling reasons

of public policy lie behind this prohibition, and judges are

expected to conduct themselves in such a manner as to

preclude any suspicion that they are representing the interests

of a party litigant.”


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A lawyer shall not pay or give anything of value to

representatives of the mass media in anticipation of,or in return for, publicity to attract legal business.


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Indirect advertisements for professional employment

such as furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments,

or procuring his photograph in connection with causes

in which the lawyer has been or is engaged or

concerning the manner of their conduct, the magnitude

of the interest involved, the importance of thelawyer’s position and all other self-laudation, offend

the traditions and lower the tone of the profession.


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Advertising may then lead to assertion offraudulent claims, corruption of public

officials; more, it will encourage lawyers to

engage in overreaching, overcharging,

underrepresentation, and misrepresentation.


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“The most worthy and effective advertisement

possible, even for a young lawyer, is the

establishment of a well-merited reputation forprofessional capacity and fidelity to trust. This

cannot be forced but must be the outcome of

character and conduct.”


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The best advertisement for a lawyer is a well-deserved reputation for competence, honesty, and

fidelity to private trust and public duty.


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Documents

Group 3 - Solicitation of Legal Services