IN RE SYCIP

ISSUE
WON

from their respective firm names. Names may be included in

names of their firms.

the listing of individuals who have been partners, indicating

FACTS
1)

Two firms ask that they be allowed to continue using the

names of their firms despite the fact that Attys. Sycip and
2)

c)

Corporation [1958] In this case, the law firm of

the name of a deceased partner. NCC 1840 explicitly

Perkins & Ponce Enrile moved to intervene as

sanctions the practice.

The use by the person or partnership continuing the

amicus curiae. The Court in a Resolution stated

business of the partnership name, or the name of a

ofPerkins is still being used although Atty. E. A.

deceased partner as part thereof, shall not of itself make

Perkins is already dead." The Court advised the

the individual property of the deceased partner liable

firm to drop the name of E. A. Perkins from the

for any debts contracted by such person or partnership.

In regulating other professions (accountancy and

firm name, and ruled that no practice should be

engineering),

rise to the possibility of deception. Deen case cited

the

legislature

has

authorized

that it "would like to be informed why the name

allowed which even in a remote degree could give

the

use of the name of a deceased partner. There is no

part of the legal system. The Supreme Court in the Deen and

use by a firm of professionals of a firm name, which

Perkins cases laid down a legal rule against which no custom

includes the name of a deceased partner, at least where

or practice to the contrary, even if proven, can prevail. This is

such firm name has acquired the characteristics of a

not to speak of our civil law which clearly ordains that a

"trade name."
The Canons of Professional Ethics are not transgressed

partnership is dissolved by the death of any partner. Custom

because Canon 33 of the Canons of Professional Ethics

which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall

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not be countenanced.
The use in their partnership names of the names of deceased

partners will run counter to NCC 1815.

Art. 1815. Every partnership shall operate under a firm

adopted by the American Bar Association declares that:

The continued use of the name of a deceased or former

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

partner when permissible by local custom, is not

more of the partners. Those who, not being members of the

unethical but care should be taken that no imposition

partnership, include their names in the firm name shall be

or deception is practiced through this use.

There is no possibility of imposition or deception

living persons who can be subjected to liability. NCC 1825

were well-publicized in all newspapers of general

prohibits a third person from including his name in the firm

circulation for several days. The stationeries now being

used by them carry new letterheads indicating the years
when

their

respective

deceased

partners

were

particularly where they are non-lawyers. Canon 34 of the

leading national and international law directories of the

Canons of Professional Ethics prohibits an agreement for

fact of their deceased partners' deaths.

No local custom prohibits the continued use of a

the payment to the widow and heirs of a deceased lawyer of

a percentage, either gross or net, of the fees received from

deceased partner's name in a professional firm's name.

the future business of the deceased lawyer's clients, both

There is no Philippine custom or usage that recognizes

because the recipients of such division are not lawyers and

that the name of a law firm identifies the firms

because such payments will not represent service or

individual members.
The continued use of a deceased partner's name in the

responsibility on the part of the recipient. Neither the

widow nor the heirs can be held liable for transactions

firm name of law partnerships has been consistently

entered into after the death of their lawyer-predecessor.

allowed by U.S. Courts and is an accepted practice in

There being no benefits accruing, there can be no

the legal profession of most countries.

DECISION

name under pain of assuming the liability of a partner.

The heirs of a deceased partner in a law firm cannot be held
liable as the old members to the creditors of a firm

connected with the firm. Petitioners will notify all

g)

subject to the liability of a partner.

Names in a firm name of a partnership must either be those
of living partners and in the case of non-partners, should be

because the deaths of their respective deceased partners

f)

in the ruling.
Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws form

fundamental policy that is offended by the continued

by the continued use of the name of a deceased partner

e)

name of C. D. Johnston, who has long been dead

Register of Deeds of Manila v. China Banking

continuing its business under a firm name that includes

adoption of firm names without any restriction as to the

d)

the years during which they served.

JURISPRUDENCE
o
The Deen case [1953] Court advised the firm to
desist from including in their firm designation the

Ozaeta died.
Petitioners Arguments:
a) Under the law, a partnership is not prohibited from

b)

NO

Petitioners advised to drop the names SYCIP and OZAETA

WON they may be allowed to continue using the current

corresponding liability.
The public relations value of the use of an old firm name can
tend to create undue advantages and disadvantages in the

IN RE SYCIP
practice of the profession. An able lawyer without

In the Philippines, no local custom permits or allows the

connections will have to make a name for himself starting

continued use of a deceased or former partner's name. Firm

from scratch. Another able lawyer, who can join an old firm,

names, under our custom, identify the more active and/or

can initially ride on that old firm's reputation established by

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deceased partners.

more senior members or partners of the law firm.

The possibility of deception upon the public, real or
consequential, where the name of a deceased partner

ON ARGUMENT #1
NCC 1840 is within Chapter 3 of Title IX entitled

continues to be used cannot be ruled out. A person in search

"Dissolution and Winding Up." It primarily deals with the

distinguished name appearing in a firm title.

of legal counsel might be guided by the familiar ring of a

exemption from liability in cases of a dissolved partnership,

of the individual property of the deceased partner for debts
contracted by the person or partnership, which continues the

partner's name because it is sanctioned by custom. Not so in

business using the partnership name or the name of the

this jurisdiction where there is no local custom that sanctions

deceased partner as part thereof. What the law contemplates

therein is a hold-over situation preparatory to formal
-

reorganization.
Secondly, NCC 1840 treats more of a commercial partnership

with a good will to protect rather than of a professional

rule, legally binding and obligatory. Courts take no judicial

partnership [with no saleable goodwill but whose reputation

notice of custom. A custom must be proved as a fact,

depends on the personal qualifications of its individual

according to the rules of evidence. A local custom as a source

members]. A saleable goodwill can exist only in a

of right cannot be considered by a court of justice unless

commercial partnership, not in a professional partnership

such custom is properly established by competent evidence

consisting of lawyers.

like any other fact. Merely because something is done as a

matter of practice does not mean that Courts can rely on the

ON ARGUMENT #2
A partnership for the practice of law cannot be likened to

same for purposes of adjudication as a juridical custom.

Juridical custom must be differentiated from social custom.
The former can supplement statutory law or be applied in

The law on accountancy specifically allows the use of a trade

name in connection with the practice of accountancy.
A partnership for the practice of law is not a legal entity. It is

making trade." Petitioners' desire to preserve the identity of

is not a partnership formed to carry on trade or business or

their firms in the eyes of the public must bow to legal and

of holding property. The use of a nom de plume, assumed or

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trade name in law practice is improper.

Primary characteristics which distinguish

profession from business

A duty of public service, of which the emolument is a

the

legal

ethical impediment.
NOTES
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justice involving thorough sincerity, integrity, and reliability

A relation to clients in the highest degree fiduciary
A 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
The right to practice law does not only presuppose in its

started with partnership of Quisumbing, Sycip, and

Quisumbing,

ON ARGUMENT #3
Canon 33 does not consider as unethical the continued use of
the name of a deceased or former partner when such a
practice is permissible by local custom, but the Canon warns
that care should be taken that no imposition or deception is
practiced.

senior

partner,

the

late

Ramon

the most junior partner then, Norberto J. Quisumbing, being

his brother- in-law.
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DISSENT OF J. AQUINO
The petition may be granted with the condition that it be
indicated in the letterheads of the two firms (as the case may
be) that A. Sycip, former J. Ozaeta and H. Ozaeta are dead or
the period when they served as partners should be stated

the exercise of a special privilege, highly personal and

the

Quisumbing, being the father-in-law of the undersigned, and

possessor integrity, legal standing and attainment, but also

partaking of the nature of a public trust.

CONCURRENCE OF J. FERNANDO
It is out of delicadeza that the undersigned did not
participate in the disposition of these petitions. Sycip Salazar

byproduct, and in which one may attain the highest

eminence without making much money
A relation as an "officer of court" to the administration of

the absence of such statute. Not so with the latter.

The practice of law is related to the administration of justice
and should not be considered like an ordinary "money-

a mere relationship or association for a particular purpose. It

the practice.
Custom has been defined as a rule of conduct formed by
repetition of acts, uniformly observed (practiced) as a social

partnerships formed by other professionals or for business.

ON ARGUMENT #6
U.S. Courts have allowed the continued use of a deceased

therein.
The purpose of the two firms in continuing the use of the
names of their deceased founders is to retain the clients who
had customarily sought the legal services of Attys. Sycip and
Ozaeta and to benefit from the goodwill attached to the
names of those respected and esteemed law practitioners.
That is a legitimate motivation. The retention of their names
is not illegal per se.

IN RE SYCIP