SC tells lawyers to serve clients with competence

Lawyers should always serve their clients with competence and diligence otherwise they are prone to administrative sanctions from the Supreme Court.

Associate Justice Artemio Panganiban, chairman of the SC's Third Division, said the High Tribunal is always vigilant in sanctioning incompetent counsels.

The Code of Professional Responsibility provides that lawyers owe fidelity to their clients' cause and must be mindful of the trust and confidence reposed in them.

Under Canon 18 of the code, lawyers are mandated to serve their clients with competence, and not to neglect a legal matter entrusted to them.

A 14-page SC decision penned by Panganiban suspended lawyer Salvador T. Sabio for his failure to competently serve his client that led to the dismissal of the petition he filed before the SC.

The SC found out that Sabio overlooked the basic procedural requirements when he failed to pay the docket and other legal fees as well as to attach the certification on non-forum shopping.

The justices also learned that Sabio kept his clients in the dark on the dismissal of their petition. Lawyers are required to give their clients periodic and full updates on case developments.

It was not the first time that Sabio was penalized by the SC. He was also suspended for six months in another administrative case with a warning of more severe sanctions.

Sabio served as counsel for the dismissed Binalbagan-Isabela Sugar Company employees who filed a labor case against their employer. The firm operates a sugar mill in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.

The Regional Labor Arbitration branch in Bacolod City reinstated the dismissed employees, but the National Labor Relations Commission based in Cebu City reversed the decision and dismissed the complaint of the employees.

The employees reportedly paid for the expenses incurred in filing the petition before the High Court.

But the SC dismissed the petition because Sabio failed to pay the proper docket fees and for lack of the required certification against forum shopping. Sabio did not also inform his clients of the SC decision on their petition. - Rene U. Borromeo