Orcino v Gaspar Adm. Case No. 3773.

September 24, 1997

Topics: Legal Ethics, Attorneys, Withdrawal of Counsel

Facts:

- Angelita Orcina filed complaint against Atty. Josue Gaspar for abandoning duties and failing to
return legal fees she fully paid for his services
- Orcina engaged the services of Gaspar to prosecute a criminal case for 20kphp (10k upon
acceptance) +500php per appearance in court
- Payment were as follows 5kphp (2/25/91), 5kphp (3/31/91), 10kphp (5/21/91).
- Gaspar interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence to build a case against the suspects. He
drew up the necessary sworn statements and dutifully attended the preliminary investigation.
However, he claimed that he did not receive a formal notification of a succeeding hearing. In his
absence in said hearing, suspects were able to post bail.
- Orcina became belligerent and accused Gaspar of jeopardizing the case in his absence. She
asked for the records of the case saying she could refer to another lawyer.
- Gaspar filed a “motion to withdraw counsel” and court ordered to secure Orcina’s consent to it
but she did not sign it.
- Hearings continued and Gaspar did not show up to court.

Issues:

- WON Gaspar had the right to terminate attorney-client relationship

Held:

- No. The rule in this jurisdiction is that a client has the absolute right to terminate the attorney-
client relation at any time with or without cause. The right of an attorney to withdraw or
terminate the relation other than for sufficient cause is, however, considerably restricted. He is
not at liberty to abandon it without reasonable cause. A lawyer’s right to withdraw from a case
before its final adjudication arises only from the client’s written consent or
- (a) when a client insists upon an unjust or immoral conduct of his case;
- (b) when the client insists that the lawyer pursue conduct violative of the Code of Professional
Responsibility;
- (c) when the client has two or more retained lawyers and the lawyers could not get along to the
detriment of the case;
- (d) when the mental or physical condition of the lawyer makes him incapable of handling the
case effectively;
- (e) when the client deliberately fails to pay the attorney’s fees agreed upon;
- (f) when the lawyer is elected or appointed to public office;
- (g) other similar cases.