Article 33p. 33

LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ETHICS CODES, CANONS AND RULES

shall be considered sufficient compliance with this Rule,

provided that the covered lawyer must already be in

government service at least six months before admission

into the Bar; provided further, that the legal services

provided are substantive, as certified by the Heads of

Office; and

v. Legal services provided to marginalized sectors and

identities, such as but not limited to: (a) urban poor; (b)

workers/laborers; (c) overseas foreign workers; (d) children

in conflict with the law; and (e) persons involved in

gender issues.

(c) "Indigent Party" shall refer to a party in a case covered

by Rule 3, Section 21 of the Rules of Court . The test for

indigency shall not be based on a set financial amount

but rather on the capacity to afford the services of

counsel after considering his or her basic necessities for

himself or herself and his or her family.

(d) "Indigent Litigants" shall refer to a party in a case

covered under Rule 141, Section 19 of the Rules of Court .

(e) "Other Persons of Limited Means" shall refer to those

who may not be covered by Sections (c) and (d) but

would, under the circumstances, not be financially able to

afford the services of counsel. This includes marginalized

groups and entities such as farmers, indigenous peoples,

children

in conflict with the law, victims of gender

violence, and other similar causes.

(f) "Law School Legal Aid Office" is an office or center

under a law school's clinical legal education program duly

organized and accredited under Rule 138-A (The Law

Student Practice Rule) to render legal assistance and

services to indigent and pauper clients.

(g) "Public Interest Law Group" is any group, association,

institution, office, or center duly organized and with a

specific and clear mandate to assist specific marginalized

sectors of society in their legal needs. For purposes of this

Rule, such a group must have been organized and in

active service of its mandate for at least five (5) years prior

to the effectivity of this Rule.

(h) "Accredited Legal Aid Service Providers" are legal

aid offices duly accredited with the Office of the Bar

Confidant (OBC) where covered lawyers may render pro

bono legal aid service. These offices shall include:

i. Law organizations regularly rendering legal aid services,

such as the Philippine Bar Association, and other similar

organizations;

ii.

Developmental

Legal

Assistance

Groups

and

Alternative Law Groups rendering developmental legal

assistance as defined herein and alternative law groups;

iii. Public Interest Law Groups, as defined herein;

iv. Law School Legal Aid Offices, as defined herein; and

v. Law firms which handle cases for persons of limited

means, as defined herein, or marginalized groups and

entities. This shall include law firms with established legal

aid departments or which regularly render pro bono legal

aid service or act as counsel de officio .

(i) "Integrated Bar of the Philippines" (IBP) is the official

national organization of lawyers in the country.

(j) "National Committee on Legal Aid" (NCLA) is the

national committee of the IBP which is specifically tasked

with handling legal aid cases.

(k) "IBP Chapters" are those located in the different

geographical areas of the country as defined in Rule

139-A of the Rules of Court .

(l) "IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee" is the committee

of the IBP Chapter which will supervise the covered

lawyers in the rendition of free legal services.

(m) "Law Firm" refers to a private law firm or office with a

pro bono program intended to provide free legal aid

services and assistance to indigent and pauper clients.

(n) "Office of the Bar Confidant" (OBC) is the office of

the Supreme Court that has custody of the Bar records

and personal records of lawyers. It assists the Supreme

Court in disciplining the Bar by investigating complaints

against lawyers and Bar candidates. For purposes of this

Rule,

it shall be the Office that accredits legal aid

providers, as defined herein, and certifies compliance or

non-compliance by covered lawyers.

SECTION 5. Requirements .—

(a) Number of Hours — Covered lawyers, as defined under

Section 4 (a),are required to render one hundred twenty

(120) hours of pro bono legal aid services to qualified

parties enumerated in Section 4 (b),within the first year of

the covered lawyers' admission to the Bar, counted from

the time they signed the Roll of Attorneys. For this

purpose, covered lawyers shall report to the chairperson

of the IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee of their choice or

the chairperson, director, or supervising partner or lawyer

from the Accredited Legal Aid Service Provider of their

choice for their compliance with this Rule.

(b) Free Legal Aid Services on Weekends — Upon written

request duly approved by the chairperson of the IBP

Chapter Legal Aid Committee or the chairperson, director,

or supervising partner or lawyer from the Accredited

Legal Aid Service Provider, covered lawyers may comply

with the requirements of this Rule on weekends. Said

lawyers are entitled to an extension of the compliance

period, upon submission of the weekend schedules by

the IBP committee chairperson or the appropriate officer

of the Accredited Legal Aid Service Provider.

(c) Exemptions — The following shall be exempted from

the requirements of this Rule upon sufficient proof of

their respective circumstances submitted with the OBC:

i.

Covered

lawyers

in

the

executive

and

legislative

branches

of government, provided that the covered

lawyer must already be in government service at least six

(6) months before admission into the Bar; however, those

employed upon admission into the Bar with the judiciary,

the Public Attorney's Office, the National Prosecution

Service, the Office of the Solicitor General, the Office of

the Government Corporate Counsel, and the Office of the

Ombudsman

shall

be

automatically

exempt

from

compliance with this Rule;

ii. Those who have already undergone and completed the

clinical legal education program duly organized and

accredited under Rule 138-A (The Law Student Practice

Rule);

iii. Covered lawyers who have worked for at least one (1)

year in law firms offering pro bono legal services or

regularly accepting counsel de officio appointments;

iv. Covered lawyers who have previously worked for more

than one (1) year as staff of a Law School Legal Aid Office,

as defined, a Public Interest Law Group, or an alternative

or developmental law group; and

v. Covered lawyers who have worked with lawyers for

Public

Interest

Law

Groups

or

alternative

or

developmental law groups for more than one (1) year and

have filed public interest cases.

Within thirty (30) days from the date of signing the Roll of

Attorneys, any aforelisted lawyer shall submit his/her

sworn statement and that of the chairperson, director or

supervising partner or lawyer of the Accredited Legal Aid

Service

Provider

showing his/her entitlement to the

exemption from the rule. Otherwise, the new lawyer shall

not be considered exempt from the Rule.

(d) Supervision of Covered Lawyers — Representation in

civil

and

criminal

cases

before

courts

and

in

administrative cases before quasi-judicial agencies and

the rendition of other pro bono legal aid services shall be

under

the

direct

supervision

and

control

of

the

chairperson of the IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee, or

the chairperson, director, or supervising partner or lawyer

from the Accredited Legal Aid Service Provider where the

covered lawyers are registered or affiliated.

(e)

Signing

of

Pleadings

—

Any

and

all pleadings,

motions, briefs, memoranda, or other papers to be filed in

court or any quasi-judicial agency must be signed by the

© Compiled By RGL

33 of 41