B.M. No. 1036
June 10, 2003
Facts
Respondent Edwin Rana passed the 2000 Bar Examination and was able to take his lawyer’s oath. However, he was not allowed to sign the roll of attorney, pending the resolution of the case filed against him.
Thereafter, complainant Aguirre filed a Petition for Denial of Admission to the Bar on the grounds that herein respondent was allegedly guilty of unauthorized practice of law, grave misconduct, violation of law, and grave misrepresentation. Complainant alleged that the respondent appeared as a counsel for a candidate in the May 2001 elections before the Municipal Board of Election and filed a pleading as counsel for a candidate.
On the contrary, respondent contended that candidate Bunan sought his “specific assistance” to represent him before the MBEC wherein he agreed to assist the latter not as a lawyer but as a person who knows the law. Besides, he claimed that he did not sign the pleading as a lawyer. With this, the respondent prayed that the complaint be dismissed for lack of merit.
The Court referred the case to the Office of the Bar Confidant who ruled that the respondent actually appeared as a counsel for Bunan even before the he took the lawyer’s oath, as evident from the minute of the MBEC proceedings. This leads the OBC to conclude that the conduct of the respondent casts a serious doubt on his moral fitness to be a member of the Bar. Hence, the OBC recommends that respondent be denied admission to the practice of law on the grounds that the respondent practice law without authority to do so.
Issue
Whether or not the respondent involved in the unauthorized practice of law which warrants a sufficient ground to deny the latter’s admission to the bar?
Held
Yes. The Supreme Court provides that the right to practice law is not a natural or constitutional right but is a privilege. Such privilege is limited only to those persons possessing good moral character along with special qualifications which including possession of integrity, legal knowledge, educational attainment, and even public trust. Furthermore, the Court in Beltran, Jr v. Abad emphasized that a simply passing the bar does not automatically guarantee admission to the practice of law especially so if the person seeking admission had practiced it without a license.
In the case at bar, the respondent engaged in an unauthorized practice of law when he appeared in the proceedings before MBEC and filed various pleadings as well as calling himself a counsel without a license to do so. With this, he has shown moral unfitness to be a member of a Bar.
Hence, the respondent is denied admission to the practice of law.