Scribd
Upload
79 views4 pages

Legal Counseling 3C Gutierrez, Katherine P. Roman J. Israel, Esq

Atty. Roman J. Israel worked for over 30 years as a lawyer, drafting legal documents for his friend Atty. William Jackson. When Jackson got sick, Israel lost his job. A new firm offered Israel work but required him to appear in court. He took on a murder case where his client Carter Johnson claimed another man was the real culprit. Johnson was then killed. Israel informed relatives of the victim the name and location of the actual accused, and received a $100,000 reward. The question is whether Israel violated confidentiality rules. It was found that Israel did not violate the rules, as preserving public justice and the law is a lawyer's primary duty. Additionally, Israel was helping carry out his deceased client's

Uploaded by

Katherine Gutierrez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
79 views4 pages

Legal Counseling 3C Gutierrez, Katherine P. Roman J. Israel, Esq

Atty. Roman J. Israel worked for over 30 years as a lawyer, drafting legal documents for his friend Atty. William Jackson. When Jackson got sick, Israel lost his job. A new firm offered Israel work but required him to appear in court. He took on a murder case where his client Carter Johnson claimed another man was the real culprit. Johnson was then killed. Israel informed relatives of the victim the name and location of the actual accused, and received a $100,000 reward. The question is whether Israel violated confidentiality rules. It was found that Israel did not violate the rules, as preserving public justice and the law is a lawyer's primary duty. Additionally, Israel was helping carry out his deceased client's

Uploaded by

Katherine Gutierrez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Legal Counseling 3C Gutierrez, Katherine P.

ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ.

Facts

Atty. Roman J. Israel was a lawyer. He was an employee of his friend Atty.
William Jackson for almost thirty six years, the latter was the one who
appear in court while all the pleadings, drafts, complaints and all legal
writings were the responsibility of atty. Israel. Unfortunately, His friend got
sick and he therefore lost his job. All the pending cases under Atty. William
Jackson were transferred to the firm of Atty. George Pierce.

Atty. George Pierce offered Atty. Israel a job, but he was forced to appear in
trial. He handled the case of Carter Johnson, an accused in a murder case.
During one of his visits, Johnson told him that he was not the real culprit and
told him the location of the real one. Johnson asked for a witness protection
order because he was willing to testify against the real offender,
unfortunately he was killed.

A relative of the victim in a murder case, was very willing to give a 100,000
dollar reward, to whomever point out the accused, Atty. Roman J. Israel
used his knowledge to tell him via phone call the name and location of the
accused. The accused was subsequently arrested and thereafter he got the
reward.

Issue:

Whether Atty. Roman J. Israel violated the rule on confidentiality under the
code of professional responsibility?

1
Applicable Laws:

CANON 17 - A LAWYER OWES FIDELITY TO THE CAUSE OF HIS


CLIENT AND HE SHALL BE MINDFUL OF THE TRUST AND
CONFIDENCE REPOSED IN HIM.

CANON 15 - A LAWYER SHALL OBSERVE CANDOR, FAIRNESS


AND LOYALTY IN ALL HIS DEALINGS AND TRANSACTIONS
WITH HIS CLIENTS.

Rule 15.02 - A lawyer shall be bound by the rule on privilege


communication in respect of matters disclosed to him by a prospective
client

CANON 21 - A LAWYER SHALL PRESERVE THE CONFIDENCE


AND SECRETS OF HIS CLIENT EVEN AFTER THE ATTORNEY-
CLIENT RELATION IS TERMINATED.

Rule 21.01 - A lawyer shall not reveal the confidences or secrets of


his client except;

(a) When authorized by the client after acquainting him of the


consequences of the disclosure;

(b) When required by law;

(c) When necessary to collect his fees or to defend himself, his


employees or associates or by judicial action.

Rule 21.02 - A lawyer shall not, to the disadvantage of his client, use
information acquired in the course of employment, nor shall he use
the same to his own advantage or that of a third person, unless the
client with full knowledge of the circumstances consents thereto.

2
BP 1829

The law covers the following acts of any person who knowingly or willfully
obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and the
investigation and prosecution of criminal cases:

c.) Harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person


he knows, or has reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has
committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent
his arrest, prosecution and conviction.
Observing the about provisions, there was indeed a conflict between
the duty of a lawyer to the court and to his client.

Decision:

No. Atty. Roman J. Israel did not violate the code of professional
responsibility; he did his duty as a citizen and a lawyer.

Lawyers’ duty to the court and the administration of justice is


paramount- The public duties of the attorney take precedence over his
private duties. Where duties to the courts conflict with his duties to his
clients, the latter must yield to the former.

In the case of Lubiano vs Godollas the court held that , A lawyer as a


member of the bar, an oath-bound servant of the law, whose first duty is not
to his client but to the administration of justice and whose conduct ought to
be and must be scrupulously observant of law and ethics. and that, despite
the fact that the rule of absolute privileged communication absolves
beforehand the lawyer from civil and criminal liability based on the
statements made in the pleadings, he remains subject to the Court’s
supervisory and disciplinary powers for lapses in the observance of his duty
as a member of the legal profession.

3
In the case at bar, although it is the responsibility of Atty. Israel to preserve
the secrets of his client, if the law requires him to do otherwise, it is his duty
as a lawyer and a citizen to follow the law.

However it is important to note that, the information he disclosed was more


advantageous to his client, since he pointed out the real culprit in the crime.
Aside from helping the court to speedy justice, he also helped his client to
clear his name although it was happened after the client died.

Aside from that, it shows in the case, that it was his client intention to be a
witness against the real culprit, he was about to tell the court the real
incident and asked for the witness protection stand, but uncertainty happened
which lead to his death.

Therefore, there was no violation of the code and he cannot be subjected to


the Court’s supervisory and disciplinary powers for lapses in the observance
of his duty as a member of the legal profession, because what he did was the
very intention of his client.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy