A.C. No. 5798 – 489 Phil. 791 – Legal Ethics – Canon 20 – Duty to Avoid Controversies Involving Lawyer’s Fees
Engineer Alex Cueto, for P5,000,000.00, was contracted to build a building for Jose Jimenez III. Cueto decided to have the contract be notarized and he chose Atty. Jose Jimenez, Jr., father of Jimenez III, to notarize said contract. Before the notarization, Cueto did not ask how much will Atty. Jimenez be charging. So he was surprised when after the notarization, he was being asked to pay P50,000.00. He paid the P30,000.00 and he issued a check worth P20,000.00 to Atty. Jimenez.
Later, Cueto advised Atty. Jimenez not to encash the check yet because he has insufficient funds. Notwithstanding, Atty. Jimenez still tried to encash the check hence it was dishonored. Atty. Jimenez then filed a criminal suit against Cueto.
ISSUE: Whether or not what Atty. Jimenez, Jr. did is proper.
HELD: No. He violated Canon 20 of the Code of Professional Responsibility which states: “[a] lawyer shall avoid controversies with clients concerning his compensation and shall resort to judicial action only to prevent imposition, injustice or fraud.” There was no intention on the part of Cueto to commit fraud against Jimenez as he paid the P30k downpayment. It’s just that, ironically, the reason why Cueto does not have sufficient fund in his account was that Jimenez III has failed to pay Cueto’s professional services in the building project.
