Article 34p. 34

LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ETHICS CODES, CANONS AND RULES

covered lawyers and co-signed 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.

The pleadings may be signed solely by the covered

lawyers only in the event 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

is

unavailable

but

such

signature page shall indicate who the supervising lawyers

are.

(f) Time Log and Timesheets — The IBP Chapter Legal Aid

Committee or the Accredited Legal Aid Service Provider

shall keep a record of the time/hours spent by new

lawyers in rendering free legal aid services to qualified

parties or litigants. For this purpose, the said committee

or legal aid service provider shall designate a person

responsible to keep timesheets containing the number of

hour(s)

spent

every

week

by

each

new

lawyer

in

rendering free legal aid services for each assigned case

and/or client. Time spent in the office or at the place

designated by the IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee or

Accredited

Legal

Aid

Service

Provider,

regardless of

whether there are clients attended to or not, shall also be

recorded and included in the computation of the hours

required by this Rule. The actual hours spent by the new

lawyers in court or before any quasi-judicial agency with

the client shall likewise be recorded and counted.

The timesheets shall be authenticated by the chairperson

of

the

IBP

Chapter

Legal

Aid

Committee

or

the

chairperson, director, or supervising partner or lawyer in

charge of the Accredited Legal Aid Service Provider.

(g) Certificate of Compliance — Covered lawyers shall,

upon completion of the required one hundred twenty

(120) hours of free legal aid services, submit a notarized

Certificate of Compliance to the OBC issued and signed

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 where they are registered.

SECTION 6. Period for Compliance .— Covered lawyers

shall complete the community legal aid service within

twelve (12) months from the date they sign the Roll of

Attorneys. Within one (1) month after the lapse of the said

period, covered lawyers shall submit the Certificate of

Compliance issued by the Accredited Legal Aid Service

Provider to the OBC.

The twelve (12) month period may be extended upon a

petition

duly

submitted

and

granted

by

the

Bar

Confidant, who will furnish the Office of the Chief Justice

with a copy of the order resolving the petition. The

petition for extension must be filed before the lapse of

the period for compliance. In the event a new lawyer has

completed the required number of hours before the end

of the one (1) year period, he/she can already submit the

Certificate of Compliance to the OBC.

In order to address possible economic hardships that may

be caused by strict compliance with this Rule, or for any

justifiable

reason,

qualified

lawyers

may

request

compliance with this Rule for two (2) years. Covered

lawyers who wish to avail of this privilege must file an

application with the OBC, which shall determine the

validity of the deferment on a case-to-case basis.

SECTION 7. Continuous Handling or Turnover of Cases .—

Representation, once entered, by covered lawyers in cases

before

the

courts

or

quasi-judicial

agencies,

shall

continue

until

terminated;

provided,

that

after

the

twelve-month period, the requirement of supervision

shall no longer be mandatory.

Should the covered lawyer, upon compliance with the

Rule and lapse of the twelve-month period, be unable to

continue

representation

of

the

party

by

reason

of

professional conflict of interest arising from his or her

employment, he/she may turn over the handling of the

cases to the IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee or the

Accredited Legal Aid Service Provider indicating clearly

the reason for the turnover. The turned-over cases may

then be reassigned to another covered lawyer.

SECTION

8.

Prohibition

against

Solicitation

or

Acceptance of Gifts .— Covered lawyers shall not solicit,

request, or accept, directly or indirectly, any fee, gift, token

of gratitude, or anything of monetary value in the course

of rendering the legal aid services under this Rule. Any

and all legal services provided under this Rule shall be on

a pro bono basis.

SECTION

9.

Protection

of

Private

Practice

or

Employment .— This rule is not intended to impair the

private

practice

or

employment

of

covered lawyers.

Barring any conflict of interest or any other violation of

the Code of Professional Responsibility, covered lawyers

can engage in private practice and accept paid clients or

be employed in the government or in the private sector

within the twelve-month period for compliance.

SECTION 10. Full Credit for Mandatory Continuing Legal

Education (MCLE) .— A covered lawyer who successfully

complies with the requirements of this Rule shall be

given a full credit of thirty-six (36) MCLE units for the

three year-period covered by a compliance period under

the Rules on MCLE.

The grant of full credit shall be without prejudice to any

other legislated benefits that the covered lawyer may be

entitled to, such as tax exemptions and other similar

benefits.

SECTION 11. Duties of the OBC. — The OBC shall perform

the following duties and responsibilities:

(a) Verify the contents of the notarized Certificate of

Compliance submitted by new lawyers with the issuing

IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee or the Accredited Legal

Aid Service Provider;

(b) Keep a record of all the Certificates of Compliance and

submit it to the Court en banc at the end of each quarter;

(c) Accredit Clinical Legal Aid Offices of Law Schools,

Public Interest Groups, Developmental Legal Aid Groups,

Alternative Legal Aid Groups, or Law Firms which intend

to participate in this legal aid program. The IBP Chapter

Legal Aid Committees, the Free Legal Assistance Group

(FLAG),and

previously

accredited

Clinical

Legal

Aid

Offices shall be automatically accredited by the OBC;

(d) Monitor the compliance of covered lawyers and the

Accredited

Legal

Aid

Service

Providers

with

the

requirements of this Rule;

(e) File administrative charges against non-compliant

covered lawyers and any group/person who may be

involved in any violation of this Rule; and

(f) Provide the standard forms for the timelog, timesheets,

and notarized Certificate of Compliance.

SECTION 12. Duties of IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee

or the Accredited Legal Aid Service Provider. —

The IBP Chapter Legal Aid Committee or the Accredited

Legal Aid Service Provider shall submit to the OBC an

Annual Report containing a summary of the certificates

issued to covered lawyers, on or before June 30 of every

year. The Report shall contain a list of the covered lawyers,

the number of hours spent rendering free legal aid

services, the legal aid cases involved, and the qualified

parties or litigants for whom the services were rendered.

SECTION 13. Expenses .—

Expenses incurred by the IBP Chapter in connection with

the services rendered by the new lawyers may be sourced

from the IBP subsidy provided by the Court. Expenses by

the

Accredited

Legal

Aid

Service

Provider

shall

be

shouldered by the respective law organization, public

interest group, developmental law group, alternative law

group, law school, or law firm. The Accredited Legal Aid

Service Provider may, however, request the court for

financial assistance.

SECTION 14. Penalties .—

© Compiled By RGL

34 of 41