In Re Application of Max Shoop for

Admission to Practice Law

IN RE APPLICATION OF MAX SHOOP FOR ADMISSION TO
PRACTICE LAW

November 29, 1920

Facts:

This is an application to the court by Max Shoop for admission to practice law
in the Philippines Islands wherein the applicant has been admitted to practice,
and has practiced for more than five years in the highest court of the State of
New York.

With the rule cited by the court, the following are required for compliance for
the admission of the applicant:

1. Any person admitted to practice and who has practiced five years as a
member of the bar in the highest law court in any other state or territory
of the American Union or in the District of Columbia.
2. Any person admitted to practice and who has practiced five years in
another country whose jurisprudence is based on the principles of the
English Common Law.

Issue:

Whether Max Shoop is qualified to practice law in the Philippines.

Ruling:

Accordingly, the supporting papers filed by the applicant in this case showing
to the satisfaction of the court his qualifications as an attorney-at-law, his
petition is hereby granted and he is admitted to the practice of law in the
Philippine Islands.
The decision is based upon the interpretation of the New York rule:

(1) The Philippine Islands is an unorganized territory of the United States,

under a civil government established by the Congress.

(2) In interpreting and applying the bulk of the written laws of this
jurisdiction, and in rendering its decision in cases not covered by the letter of
the written law, this court relies upon the theories and precedents of Anglo-
American cases, subject to the limited exception of those instances where the
remnants of the Spanish written law present well-defined civil law theories
and of the few cases where such precedents are inconsistent with local
customs and institutions.

(3) The jurisprudence of this jurisdiction is based upon the English Common
Law in its present day form of Anglo-American Common Law to an almost
exclusive extent.

(4) By virtue of the foregoing, the New York rule, given a reasonable
interpretation, permits conferring privileges on attorneys admitted to practice
in the Philippine Islands similar to those privileges accorded by the rule of this
court.