Arellano University School of Law
corner Menlo St., Taft Avenue
Pasay City
Written Report on
Legal Counseling for Practicing Lawyers
Judge Recaredo P. Barte
Submitted to:
Atty. David Ballesteros
Prepared By:
Group 2 -LegCoun Sun 3:00-5:00pm
AMANSEC, Johnroe
FRANCISCO,
TALLA, Alan Jay
TULDANES, Maya Angela P.
Chapter 3: Workload of a Lawyer
The workload of a lawyer cannot be excluded from the subject of legal counselling, if for
no other purpose than to acquaint and polish the legal practitioner of the bread and butter of his
profession. The standard yardstick for successful lawyering may be defined from
accomplishment of the following work tasks of the practicing lawyers, to wit:
A. Advice
B. Negotiation and Conciliation
C. Drafting
D. Litigation
E. Financing
F. Property Management
G. Acting as executor or trustee of a will, or special administrator
H. Specialization
A. ADVICE
Every lawyer is presumed to be competent in giving spontaneous and off-hand advice to
prospective clients. On matters involving an intricate question of law and the latest rulings of the
Supreme Court, the lawyer should be frank to the client, that the same cannot be answered on the
spot, hence, needs a reservation on the part of the lawyer to make a prior research and
verification with the recent applicable jurisprudence and statutes.
The lawyer’s advice may also resolve on the information and probable outcome based on the
following considerations:
1) anticipated reactions of courts and other administrative agencies or official of quasi-
judicial bodies
2) probative value of evidence
3) desires and resources of clients and other affected parties; and
4) alternative causes of action.
The following are alternative courses of action that the lawyer may suggest to his clients:
1) indicate the preference as to which course of action should be pursued by the client
2) proceed to argue persuasively as to why the client should adopt this course of action; or
3) he may try to avoid showing any preference at all on which course of action should be
taken, merely posting available alternatives in as neutral terms as possible.
B. NEGOTIATION AND CONCILIATION
Among others, the most common task a lawyer encounters in his daily practice is, the
dealing with another or potential adversary in an effort to reach an accord between the client and
the other party. These factors may consist in:
1) proposal to the other side
2) counter-proposals
3) reconsideration
4) compromise
5) advice to clients; and
6) client instructions to counsel
Negotiation usually transpires in a face-to-face conference, by the active role of a third-
party negotiator (and now there are mediation officers installed by the Supreme Court in every
city or provinces). But some or all exchanges may be accomplished by telephone or
correspondence. In some cases, a key figure in negotiation, perhaps a lawyer, may go to each
party individually and secure commitments, thereby piecing together and agreement without the
pother participants meeting face to face. Lawyers may enter negotiations at any stage. Some
clients want their lawyers to participate at the inception of dealings, other wait until after the
essential terms of a bargain have been agreed upon.
Concealment of facts, particularly when the intentions of the bargainer's principal is a
conventional negotiation tactic, and one resorted by lawyer negotiators. It is not unethical for a
lawyer to lawfully conceal from the other side the least favorable terms that their clients are
willing to accept, as long as it is done with the primary purpose of forestalling the possibility of a
court litigation or of abbreviating a court trial already started.
The lawyer must be equipped with a special power of attorney because a lawyer and a
client relationship are likened to that of agent and principal in a contract of agency forging out of
a compromise agreement. Otherwise, the judgment of the court based on the compromise
agreement cannot be enforced it being null and void, unless, ratified thereafter.
C. DRAFTING
Drafting includes not only the preparation and drafting of written documents, like deeds
of conveyance, every written contract of sale, mortgages, building contracts of Engineers and
Architects, memoranda of agreement for multi-faced negotiations involving public interest, and
every written agreement in the course of business, including the review and modification by
others. A practicing lawyer may be called upon to draft many kinds of instruments, including
originally phrased documents tailored to a single transaction or series of transactions and
standard forms adaptable to various transactions.
The lawyer must have the ability to write with clarity and precision and to anticipate all
relevant legal and factual considerations. Nevertheless, one does not need to be a gifted writer to
be able to draft a perfect document. The better practice is to keep sets of legal and non-legal
forms in your private files consisting of carbon or xerox copies of samples of instruments
developed by the lawyer or his firm in past transactions.
D. LITIGATION
Litigation is the last and crucial aspect in the lawyer's workload. When despite all
avenues and pressure-packed attempts at conciliation and negotiation by the practicing lawyer
have failed, there can be no more alternatives left to protect the rights and interests of your client
except to go to court.
Litigation vs Negotiation
In litigation, a third party decides issues involving others; whereas, in negotiation, parties
with conflicting interests seek to resolve or accommodate to them by mutual agreement among
themselves.
Recommended short-cuts to non-contested suits
Insofar as criminal cases are concerned, a recommended shortcut remedy is to enter a
plea of guilty when the imposable penalty for the offense thus charged, does not exceed prision
correctional or not exceeding six (6) years, in which case, the convict can avail of the benefits of
the Probation Law at once upon promulgation of the decision in on court as long as he does not
suffer from the following disqualifications, such as (a) not having been convicted of subversion
or any crime against national security or the public order, (b) he has not been previously
convicted by final judgment of an offense punished by an imprisonment of not less than one
month and one day and/or fine of not less than two hundred pesos; (c) he has not been once on
probation under the provisions of P.D.968: and (d) that he is already serving sentence at the time
the substantive provisions of P.D. 968 became applicable.
If the accused is on bail, he can avail of his bail bond for his immediate release, or apply
for a recognizance by any responsible person in the community who can guarantee his
appearance whenever the court requires his personal appearance, and the offended party does not
interpose objection, pending the evaluation and approval of his application for probation by the
court.
E. FINANCING
A lawyer’s participation as a principal in business deals with clients where he receives a
share in the venture in return for cash or legal services.
F. PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AND LEASING
These work tasks include:
1) leasing
2) eviction
3) contract for repairs
4) rent collection
5) arranging for maintenance services and insurance
6) payment of taxes and other expenses of clients, and acting as executors and
trustees.
In a lease, some Lease contracts expressly provide that the moment the collection case
reaches the hands of the lawyer, the tenant becomes liable for the payment of attorney’s fees.
Since most of these tenants are afraid to face court litigation, they would rather sacrifice paying
the lawyer’s fees, than go to court with the risk of being evicted and incur unnecessary expenses
of litigation.
In rents, there is more than meets the eye in the demand letter signed by the lawyer
accompanied by threats of eviction. A demand letter giving the lessee a specific period within
which to comply at the risk of being dragged into an unlawful detainer suit for failure to comply
creates a feeling of insecurity and mental torture that compel the delinquent tenant to comply and
comply speedily.
A lawyer who is skilled in this kind of specialization, can save his client from liability
under the rental law, by the employment of appropriate language in the lease contact to suit the
terms and conditions more favorable to clients in the leasing of larger properties. In the event of
litigation arising from the interpretation of contracts of lease, the job of a lawyer pay more
dividends than that of an ordinary layman.
G. ACTING AS EXECUTOR OR TRUSTEE
Having acquired sufficient knowledge and identification of the testator’s properties, the
executor who drafts the will is the logical person to act as trustee in the management of real and
personal properties of the decedent in his fiduciary capacity. Except with respect to large estates
management of which is better left to the care of banks that specialize in trusteeship tasks.
Drafting of wills requires thorough investigation and gathering of facts, records, date and
documentary evidence, and familiarity with the nature, kind and extent of the estate of the
testator, so much so that it would be difficult for one who did not participate in the drafting of
such will to act as executor thereof. The lawyer who drafted the will and had acquired sufficient
knowledge and identification of the testator’s properties and nature of his bounty, should be the
logical person to discharge the task of trustee in the management of the real and personal
properties of the decedent in his fiduciary capacity.
H. SPECIALIZATION
Specialization refers to the work task of a practicing lawyer who specializes or has vast
expertise or is highly competent at performing a specific kind of work or practice. There are
lawyers for example who specialize in trial work, a corporation lawyer who specializes in
dealing with legal problems involving corporations, a practicing lawyer who specializes in
insurance cases or legal problems involving insurance. On the other hand, a general practitioner
refers to a lawyer who engages in general practice of law, incompatible with specialization, even
though there are a few kinds of clients and causes unacceptable to him.
By the test of acceptability, a general practitioner may also be a specialist providing that
remains willing to take a sufficiently broad range of matters and clients in addition to those in his
specialty.
