A.C. No. 5535 - SPOUSES STEVEN AND NORA WHITSON, COMPLAINANTS, VS. ATTY. JUANITO C. ATIENZA.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Wherefore, in view of the foregoing, the undersigned respectfully recommends that respondent be suspended from the practice of law for a period of three (3) months from receipt hereof. [7] The Board of Governors of the IBP Commission on Bar Discipline, in its Notice of Resolution, modified the recommendation of the Investigating Commissioner, viz : RESOLUTION NO. XV-2003-182 Adm. Case No. 5535 Sps. Steven Nora Whitson vs. Atty. Juanito C. Atienza RESOLVED to ADOPT and APPROVE, as it is hereby ADOPTED and APPROVED, the Report and Recommendation of the Investigating Commissioner of the above-entitled case, herein made part of this Resolution/Decision as Annex "A;" and, finding the recommendation fully supported by the evidence on record and the applicable laws and rules, with modification , and considering that respondent should have been magnanimous in dealing with complainant, especially so that he had already made the proper remedy of filing a libel suit against complainant, Atty. Juanito C. Atienza is hereby SUSPENDED from the practice of law for six (6) months. We affirm with modification the recommendation of the IBP Board of Governors. The practice of law is a privilege that is subject to regulation by the State. [8] The Supreme Court is mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution to "promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of ... the admission to the practice of law, the Integrated Bar ...." [9] Thus, Sec. 27, Rule 138 of the Revised Rules of Court provides for: SEC. 27. Disbarment or suspension of attorneys by Supreme Court; grounds therefor. - A member of the bar may be disbarred or suspended from his office as attorney by the Supreme Court for any deceit, malpractice, or other gross misconduct in such office, grossly immoral conduct, or by reason of his conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude, or for any violation of the oath which he is required to take before admission to practice, or for a willful disobedience of any lawful order of a superior court, or for corruptly or wilfully appearing as an attorney for a party to a case without authority so to do. The practice of soliciting cases at law for the purpose of gain, either personally or through paid agents or brokers, constitutes malpractice. It is shown that Atty. Atienza exhibited gross misconduct in his dealing with the Whitsons. Gross misconduct is "improper or wrong conduct, the transgression of some established and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a dereliction of duty, willful in character, and implies a wrongful intent and not mere error in judgment." [10] Any gross misconduct of a lawyer in his professional or private capacity which shows him unfit to manage the affairs of others, is a ground for the imposition of the penalty of suspension or disbarment because good character is an essential qualification for the admission of an attorney and for the continuance of such privilege. [11] In the case at bar, the medical certificate [12] prese