PRACTICE OF LAW involves any

activity in or out of court, which

requires the application of laws,
legal procedure, knowledge,
training and experience.
CAYETANO VS. MONSOD
 ULEP v THE LEGAL CLINIC, INC.
A.C. No. L-553, June 17, 1993.

“Legal Support Services”

Legal support services basically consists of giving ready information by

trained paralegals to laymen and lawyers, which are strictly non-diagnostic,
non-advisory, through the extensive use of computers and modern
information technology in the gathering, processing, storage, transmission
and reproduction of information and communication, such as computerized
legal research; encoding and reproduction of documents and pleadings
prepared by laymen or lawyers; document search; evidence gathering;
locating parties or witnesses to a case; fact finding investigations; and
assistance to laymen in need of basic institutional services from government
or non-government agencies, like birth, marriage, property, or business
registrations; educational or employment records or certifications, obtaining
documentation like clearances, passports, local or foreign visas; giving
information about laws of other countries that they may find useful, like
foreign divorce, marriage or adoption laws that they can avail of preparatory
to emigration to the foreign country, and other matters that do not involve
representation of clients in court; designing and installing computer
systems, programs, or software for the efficient management of law offices,
corporate legal departments, courts and other entities engaged in
dispensing or administering legal services.
RULING:

• Respondent corporation gives out legal

information to laymen and lawyers. XXX With
its attorneys and so called paralegals, it will
necessarily have to explain to the client the
intricacies of the law and advise him or her
on the proper course of action to be taken as
may be provided for by said law. That is what
its advertisements represent and for which
services it will consequently charge and be
paid. That activity falls squarely within the
jurisprudential definition of "practice of law."
• The fact that the corporation employs
paralegals to carry out its services is not
controlling. What is important is that it is
engaged in the practice of law by virtue of
the nature of the services it renders which
thereby brings it within the ambit of the
statutory prohibitions against unacceptable
advertising.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRACTICE
OF LAW

• Practice of law is not a proprietary right, but a

mere privilege.

• Practice of law is a noble profession, not a

money-making venture.

• Legal practice is impressed with public

interest.
 1. PRACTICE OF LAW IS NOT A
PROPRIETARY RIGHT, BUT A MERE
PRIVILEGE.
 Maniago v. de Dios
A.C. No. 7472, 30 March 2010
RULING:

The lifting of a lawyers suspension is not

automatic upon the end of the period
stated in the Court’s decision, and an
order from the Court lifting the suspension
at the end of the period is necessary in
order to enable [him] to resume the
practice of his profession.
It must be remembered that the practice of
law is not a right but a mere privilege and, as
such, must bow to the inherent regulatory
power of the Supreme Court to exact
compliance with the lawyer’s public
responsibilities. That the practice of law is a
mere privilege and not a property right is
clear from the fact that the termination of
the period of suspension does not ipso
facto permit the lawyer to practice law but
must first submit the required
certifications to and pass through
evaluation.
In the Matter of the IBP Membership Dues
Delinquency of Atty. MARCIAL A. EDILION
(In re: Edillon)
A.M. No. 1928 August 3, 1978

The respondent argues, among others, that the

removal from the Roll of Attorneys due to non-
payment of IBP dues would amount to a
deprivation of property without due process and
hence infringes on one of his constitutional
rights.
The practice of law is not a property right but
a mere privilege, and as such must bow to
the inherent regulatory power of the Court to
exact compliance with the lawyer's public
responsibilities.

If the power to impose the fee as a regulatory

measure is recognized, then a penalty
designed to enforce its payment, which
penalty may be avoided altogether by
payment, is not void as unreasonable or
arbitrary.
 Letter of Atty. Cecilio Y. Arevalo, Jr.,
requesting exemption from payment of
IBP dues (In re: Arevalo)
B.M. No. 1370. May 9, 2005

This is a request for exemption from

payment of the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines (IBP) dues filed by petitioner
Atty. Cecilio Y. Arevalo, Jr.
Philipine Lawyers Association vs. Agrava
105 Phil 273 (1959), G.R. No. L-12426
16 February 1959
It is a right in the sense that once qualified,
after passing the bar examinations, after
having taken his oath as a lawyer and after
signing the roll of attorneys, a lawyer cannot
just be prevented to practice law before any
judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative body,
except for valid reasons to be determined by
the Supreme Court. He could practice his
profession when in good standing and can
only be deprived of it for misconduct
ascertained and declared by judgment of the
Supreme Court after opportunity to be heard
has been afforded him.
Practice of Law is not a property right but a mere
privilege that could be subject of regulations and
conditions. (Maniago v. de Dios; In re Edillon; and In
re Arevalo). However, to some extent, it is a right in
the sense that once qualified, a lawyer cannot just
be prevented to practice law because of some
qualifications or requirements imposed by any
agency of government. Hence, while the practice
of law is only a privilege, a lawyer cannot be
prevented from practicing law except for valid
reasons to be determined by the Supreme Court.
He could practice his profession when in good
standing and can only be deprived of it for
misconduct ascertained and declared by judgment
of the Supreme Court after opportunity to be heard
has been afforded him. (Phil Lawyers Assn v.
Agrava)