Ulep vs.

The Legal Clinic

223 SCRA 378

FACTS:
Mauricio Ulep filed a petition to the court for the issuance of a cease and desist order to
The Legal Clinic, Inc. from issuing advertisements which potentially offer divorce and
annulment as well as validation of secret marriages. He further prays for the court to
perpetually prohibit persons or entities from making advertisements pertaining to the
exercise of the law profession other than those allowed by law, as such as
champterous, unethical, demeaning of the law profession, and destructive of the
confidence of the community in the integrity of the members of the bar.

Respondent, in its answer, admits publication of said advertisement, but claims that it is
not engaged in the practice of law but in the rendering of "legal support services"
through paralegals with the use of modern computers and electronic machines.
Respondent cited the case of John R. Bates and Van O'Steen vs. State Bar of Arizona,
arguing that the act of advertising these services should be allowed assuming that the
same are legal services.

ISSUE:
(a) Whether or not the services offered by respondent, The Legal Clinic, Inc., as
advertised by it constitutes practice of law.

RULING:
The court finds credence in the position of the bar associations on the controversy
herein presented; that indeed, the services offered by the respondent constitute the
practice of law and thus, shall not be allowed.

The act of advertising legal services as how a merchant would advertise his goods is
frowned upon by the courts as it is highly unethical. In the case of The Director of
Religious Affairs vs. Bayot, it was held that the advertisement made constitute improper
advertising or solicitation as it was a flagrant violation of the ethics of the legal
profession, being a brazen solicitation of business from the public. As the court states,
the best advertising possible for a lawyer is a well-merited reputation for professional
capacity and fidelity to trust, which must be earned as the outcome of character and
conduct. Thus, herein respondent Legal Clinic, Inc., is restrained and enjoined from
issuing or causing the publication or dissemination of any advertisement in any form
which is of the same or similar tenor and purpose, and from conducting, directly or
indirectly, any activity, operation or transaction proscribed by law or the Code of
Professional Ethics.