Article by:
Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – A lawyer was ordered disbarred by the Supreme Court (SC) following similar proceedings in the United States due to unlawful and deceitful conduct.
Jaime Lopez will be stricken off the Roll of Attorneys effective immediately, as ordered by the SC last year and shared online on March 4.
Lopez was previously disbarred by the Supreme Court of California in 2000, for violating the Code of Professional Responsibility due to his mishandling of settlement funds amounting to USD25,000 for a bodily injury settlement he received on behalf of a client in 1995.
“(W)hen a foreign court renders a judgment imposing disciplinary penalty against a Filipino lawyer admitted in its jurisdiction, such Filipino lawyer may be imposed a similar judgment in the Philippines provided that the basis of the foreign court’s judgment includes grounds for the imposition of disciplinary penalty in the Philippines.” the SC said.
In 2007, then-Chief Justice Reynato Puno received a letter informing the SC of the proceedings against Lopez before the California State Bar.
Administrative proceedings against Lopez were then initiated and he was ordered to reply why he should not be suspended or disbarred in the Philippines.
Lopez was held administratively liable in the US for, among others, his failure to promptly notify his client, Jemuel Monte-Alegre, of the settlement money from Viking Insurance Company and failure to put the funds in a trust account.
He deposited the settlement amount at Wells Fargo Bank but did not disburse it to Monte- Alegre.
The SC rejected the contention of Lopez that the California SC decision was void and could not serve as prima facie case against him in the Philippines.
His insistence that due process was not observed in the California proceedings due to constitutionally deficient notices was not supported by the records.
It was found out that Lopez was sent notices to his official address.
Lopez was likewise sanctioned in the US for failure to maintain Bar membership records. (PNA)
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