Woman lawyer’s labor of love gets her suspended again

What to do with a suspended lawyer who appears in court? Suspend her again.

The Supreme Court suspended anew a lawyer who was caught appearing in court while still serving a disciplinary penalty that had barred her from the practice for two years for earlier violations of the professional code.

Lawyer Carmelita Bautista-Lozada will have to stay away from the courtroom for six months as she was found guilty of defying her two-year suspension when she appeared as counsel for her husband in 2007.

In a ruling on March 11 and released only this week, the high court warned Lozada that another repeat offense “will warrant a more severe penalty.”

“While serving her suspension, she appeared as counsel for her husband on June 5, 2007 (Edilberto Lozada),” said the high court in a statement, without giving details of the case.

“She actively participated in the proceedings by signing her name as one of the counsels and the transcript of stenographic notes showed that she conducted direct and cross-examinations of the witnesses during the trial,” said the high court.

First offense

At the time of her court appearance, Lozada had yet to complete her suspension from 2006 to 2008, a penalty the high court had meted out to her for several violations of the Code of Professional Responsibility by brokering a real estate transaction in 1990.

The Supreme Court, in a ruling on Dec. 13, 2005, found that Lozada had acted as counsel for two parties with conflicting interests—a seller and a prospective buyer—in the sale of a house that she “even had the temerity to broker.”

She was also found to have disobeyed a Court of Appeals’ order for her to return P900,000 in cash that she had received from the seller during the botched transaction.

For love’s sake

In suspending her anew, the high court said Lozada could have faced a graver penalty, as “willful disobedience to any lawful order of a superior court is a ground for disbarment or suspension.”

But the court took a softer stance in penalizing her, giving consideration to the fact that she broke her suspension for the sake of a loved one.

“Atty. Lozada would have deserved a harsher penalty, but this Court recognizes the fact that it is part of the Filipino culture that amid adversity, families will always look out and extend a helping hand to a family member, more so, in this case, to a spouse,” the court said in its ruling.

“Thus, considering that Atty. Lozada’s actuation was prompted by her affection for her husband and that in essence, she was not representing a client but rather a spouse, we deem it proper to mitigate the severeness of her penalty,” the Court said.

The ruling was in response to a complaint that Alvin Feliciano, a respondent in Lozada’s husband Edilberto’s case, filed to disbar her for appearing in court during her suspension.

IBP recommendation

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ (IBP) Commission on Bar Discipline, which first investigated the case, had initially recommended to disbar Lozada, but the recommendation was modified to a three-month suspension by the IBP Board of Governors.

The high court extended this suspension to six months, citing earlier cases.

In its ruling, the high court junked Lozada’s defense of good faith, citing how “[s]he knew very well that at the time she represented her husband, she [was] still serving her two-year suspension order.”

Cleansing judiciary

“Yet she failed to inform the court about it. Neither did she seek any clearance or clarification from the Court if she could represent her husband,” the high court said.

Since February, the high court has been releasing rulings on administrative cases, including disciplinary action against erring lawyers and judges, as part of its campaign to cleanse the judiciary.

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