Herminio Noriega vs Atty. Emmanuel Sison

written by Howard

A.M. No. 2266 – 125 SCRA 293 – 210 Phil. 236 – Legal Ethics – Practice of Law; Isolated Practice of Law 

In 1981, Herminio Noriega filed a disbarment case against Atty. Emmanuel Sison. Noriega alleged that Sison as a hearing officer of the Securities and Exchange Commission is not allowed to engage in the private practice of law; yet Noriega alleged that Sison has created another identity under the name “Manuel Sison” in order for him to engage in private practice and represent one Juan Sacquing before a trial court in Manila.

Sison, in his defense, argued that he is in fact representing Juan Sacquing but the same is with the permission of the SEC Commissioner; that he never held himself out to the public as a practicing lawyer; that he provided legal services to Sacquing in view of close family friendship and for free; that he never represented himself deliberately and intentionally as “Atty. Manuel Sison” in the Manila JDRC where, in the early stages of his appearance, he always signed the minutes as “Atty. Emmanuel R. Sison”, and in one instance, he even made the necessary correction when the court staff wrote his name as “Atty. Manuel Sison”; that due to the “inept and careless work of the clerical staff of the JDRC”, notices were sent to “Atty. Manuel Sison.”

ISSUE: Whether or not the disbarment case should prosper.

HELD: No. The arguments of presented by Sison is well merited and backed by evidence. The allegations in the complaint do not warrant disbarment of Sison. There is no evidence that Sison has committed an act constituting deceit, immoral conduct, violation of his oath as a lawyer, willful disobedience of any lawful order of the court, or corruptly and willfully appearing as an attorney to a part to a case without attorney to do so. His isolated appearance for Sacquing does not constitute private practice of law, more so since Sison did not derive any pecuniary gain for his appearance because Sison and Sacquing were close family friends. Such act of Sison in going out of his way to aid as counsel to a close family friend should not be allowed to be used as an instrument of harassment against him.

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