I HAVE high regards to those who made it in the Bar exams and to those who are already practicing their profession. I have great awe to those who know exactly how to think and act based on their chosen profession. They own it!
However, there are people who, though experts and are excellent on their chosen profession, lack the proper attitude and behavior to handle themselves professionally.
A few days ago, I watched on Twitter a video showing a man cursing and raising his middle finger. I guess some of you knew who this was.
On Tuesday, Atty. Larry Gadon was at the Supreme Court’s compound in Baguio City. Together with him were some supporters of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. While these supporters picketed at the compound, Atty. Gadon flashed a “dirty finger” and repeatedly called them “stupid.”
This is not how a lawyer should act. He may be entitled to his own opinion regarding the issue but he has no right to belittle people and call them “stupid.” This is a display of hostility against the Chief Justice’s supporters.
Accordingly, the Code of Professional Responsibility for Lawyers provides that “a lawyer shall not engage in conduct that adversely reflects on his fitness to practice law, nor shall he, whether in public or private life, behave in a scandalous manner to the discredit of the legal profession.”
A lawyer, in a general sense, gives legal advice to clients, drafts legal documents for clients, and represents clients in legal negotiations and lawsuits. However, the practice of law does not only stop in rendering professional legal services. It also includes the relationship of the lawyer to the society.
When I say society, it means the community or group of persons united by some common bond or interests. And the value of the society cannot be alienated or separated from the lawyers because the latter is the reflection of the former’s values.
When Gadon took his lawyer’s oath, he vowed to “conduct myself as a lawyer according to the best of my knowledge and discretion, with all good fidelity as well to the courts as to my clients.”
This vow is a continuing promise. It is not only a promise for the admission to the legal profession; it must remain intact while exercising the profession in order to maintain one’s good standing in that exclusive and honored profession.
Lawyering is a privileged profession granted only to those who possess the strict intellectual and moral qualifications required of lawyers who are instruments in the effective and efficient administration of justice.
Atty. Gadon should revisit his lawyer’s oath as well as the ethical code.
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(Atty. Ayin Dream D. Aplasca practices her profession in Iloilo City. She may be reached thru ayindream.aplasca@gmail.com/PN)
