Kathryn Punongbayan Akmad Legal and Judicial Ethics LAWYERS OATH

Bulacan State University College of Law

I, Kathryn P. Akmad, do solemnly swear that I will maintain allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines. I will support the Constitution and obey the laws as well as the duly constituted authorities therein; I will do no falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in court; I will not wittingly or willingly promote or sue any groundless, false or unlawful suit, or give aid nor consent to the same; I will delay no man for money or malice, and will conduct myself as a lawyer according to the best of my knowledge and discretion, with all good fidelity as well to the courts as to my clients; and I impose upon myself these voluntary obligations without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. So help me God. Preliminary. The laws basic deal is to render public service and secure justice for those who seek its aid. Definitions. Legal Ethics - 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. 1) Lawyer / attorney / attorney-at-law / counsel class of persons who by license are officer of the court and who are empowered to appear, prosecute and defend and on whom peculiar duties, responsibilities and liabilities are devolved by law as a consequence. 2) Attorney - a person who is a member of the Philippine Bar and who, by the warrant of another, practices law or who acts professionally in legal formalities, negotiations or proceedings, by authority of his client. 3) Counsel - an adviser, a person professionally engaged in the trial or management of a case in court; a legal advocate managing a case at law. 4) Counsel de parte is an attorney retained by a party litigant, usually for a fee, to prosecute or defend his case in court. 5) Counsel de oficio an attorney appointed by the court to defend an indigent defendant in a criminal action or to represent a destitute party in a case. 6) Attorney of record attorney whose name, together with his address, is entered in the record of a case as the designated counsel of the party litigant in the case and to whom judicial notices relative thereto are sent. 7) Attorney of counsel an experienced lawyer, who is usually a retired member of judiciary, employed by law firm as consultant. 8) Amicus curiae is an experienced and impartial attorney invited by the court to appear ad hel in the disposition of issues submitted to it. 9) Bar the legal profession. 10) Bench the judiciary. Power to regulate practice of law.