Towards Recognizing and Accommodating Differentiation within the Legal Profession: A Critique of the Code of Professional Responsibility’s Treatment of the Non-Litigation Practice of Law

Abstract

This paper’s focal argument is that the Code of Professional Responsibility, the singular document laying down the fundamental imperatives of lawyers’ conduct in the Philippines, does not sufficiently address the emergent exigencies of the legal profession, particularly with regard to the advent of non-litigation practice areas. Due to its focus on the lawyer’s duties as an advocate, it fails to reflect the demographics of the local legal profession and the trends in the international legal community, both pointing to the pressing need to extend the regulatory arm of the bar to other practice areas. This paper will first examine the genesis, evolution, and content of the Code of Professional Responsibility, and then present the historical and legal bases for the argument aforementioned. By way of conclusion, this paper will forward short-term, medium-term, and long-term propositions geared towards the recognition and accommodation of a bar that has become increasingly differentiated.