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    In Re Letter Dated 21 February 2005 of Atty. Noel Sorreda

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    Gillian Calpito
    Atty. Noel Sorreda wrote a letter to the Chief Justice criticizing and denouncing the Supreme Court over the outcome of cases he filed. The Court required Atty. Sorreda to show cause for his actions. The Court found Atty. Sorreda guilty of contempt of court and violating the Code of Professional Responsibility for using derogatory, offensive, and insulting language against the Court. While lawyers should zealously represent their clients, they must do so within legal and ethical bounds and observe respect for the courts. Atty. Sorreda's language exceeded permissible criticism and undermined the orderly administration of justice.

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    In Re Letter Dated 21 February 2005 of Atty. Noel Sorreda

    Uploaded by

    Gillian Calpito
    494 views2 pages
    Atty. Noel Sorreda wrote a letter to the Chief Justice criticizing and denouncing the Supreme Court over the outcome of cases he filed. The Court required Atty. Sorreda to show cause for his actions. The Court found Atty. Sorreda guilty of contempt of court and violating the Code of Professional Responsibility for using derogatory, offensive, and insulting language against the Court. While lawyers should zealously represent their clients, they must do so within legal and ethical bounds and observe respect for the courts. Atty. Sorreda's language exceeded permissible criticism and undermined the orderly administration of justice.

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    Atty. Noel Sorreda wrote a letter to the Chief Justice criticizing and denouncing the Supreme Court over the outcome of cases he filed. The Court required Atty. Sorreda to show cause for his actions. The Court found Atty. Sorreda guilty of contempt of court and violating the Code of Professional Responsibility for using derogatory, offensive, and insulting language against the Court. While lawyers should zealously represent their clients, they must do so within legal and ethical bounds and observe respect for the courts. Atty. Sorreda's language exceeded permissible criticism and undermined the orderly administration of justice.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    494 views2 pages

    In Re Letter Dated 21 February 2005 of Atty. Noel Sorreda

    Uploaded by

    Gillian Calpito
    Atty. Noel Sorreda wrote a letter to the Chief Justice criticizing and denouncing the Supreme Court over the outcome of cases he filed. The Court required Atty. Sorreda to show cause for his actions. The Court found Atty. Sorreda guilty of contempt of court and violating the Code of Professional Responsibility for using derogatory, offensive, and insulting language against the Court. While lawyers should zealously represent their clients, they must do so within legal and ethical bounds and observe respect for the courts. Atty. Sorreda's language exceeded permissible criticism and undermined the orderly administration of justice.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    In re letter dated 21 February 2005 of Atty.

    Noel Sorreda

    FACTS:
    Atty. Noel S. Sorreda expressed his frustrations over the unfavorable
    outcome of and the manner by which the Court resolved the cases filed
    by him. Atty. Sorreda wrote a letter addressed to the Chief Justice,
    denouncing the Court, as follows:
    Mr. Chief Justice, I believe the manner the Court comported itself in
    the aforesaid case is totally execrable and atrocious, entirely
    unworthy of the majesty and office of the highest tribunal of the
    land. It is the action not of men of reason or those who believe in the
    rule of law, but rather of bullies and tyrants from whom 'might is
    right. I say, shame on the High Court, for shoving down a hapless
    suitor's throat a ruling which, from all appearances, it could not
    justify.

    Reacting to the above, the Court, in an en banc Resolution


    required Atty. Sorreda to show cause why he should not be properly
    disciplined for degrading, insulting and dishonoring the Supreme Court by
    using vile, offensive, intemperate and contemptuous derogatory
    language against it. Atty. Sorreda disparaged the Court with intemperate,
    insulting, offensive and derogatory language, to wit:
    SOMETHING HAS GOT TO BE SERIOUSLY AND TERRIBLY WRONG WITH
    THE COUNTRY'S JUSTICE SYSTEM
    WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN THIS COUNTRY, MR.
    CHIEF JUSTICE?

    ISSUE:
    Whether or not Atty. Sorreda is guilty both of contempt of court and
    violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility amounting to gross
    misconduct as an officer of the court and member of the Bar

    HELD:
    Yes. Unfounded accusations or allegations or words tending to
    embarrass the court or to bring it into disrepute have no place in a
    pleading. Their employment serves no useful purpose. On the contrary,
    they constitute direct contempt of court or contempt in facie curiae and
    a violation of the lawyer's oath and a transgression of the Code of
    Professional Responsibility. If a pleading containing derogatory, offensive
    and malicious statements is submitted in the same court or judge in which
    the proceedings are pending, it is direct contempt, equivalent as it is to a
    misbehavior committed in the presence of or so near a court or judge as
    to interrupt the administration of justice. Direct contempt is punishable
    summarily.
    Atty Sorreda's conduct likewise violated the Code of Professional
    Responsibility, specifically -
    CANON 11 - A lawyer shall observe and maintain the respect due to the
    courts and to judicial officers and should insist on similar conduct by
    others.

    Rule 11.03 - A lawyer shall abstain from scandalous, offensive or menacing


    language or behavior before the courts.
    Rule 11.04 - A lawyer shall not attribute to a judge motives not supported
    by the record or having no materiality to the case.
    While a lawyer owes absolute fidelity to the cause of his client, full
    devotion to his client's genuine interest and warm zeal in the
    maintenance and defense of his client's rights, as well as the exertion of
    his utmost learning and ability, he must do so only within the bounds of the
    law.

    Atty. Sorreda must be reminded that his first duty is not to his client
    but to the administration of justice, to which his client's success is wholly
    subordinate. His conduct ought to and must always be scrupulously
    observant of law and ethics. The use of intemperate language and unkind
    ascription can hardly be justified nor can it have a place in the dignity of
    judicial forum. Atty. Sorreda has transcended the permissible bounds of
    fair comment and constructive criticism to the detriment of the orderly
    administration of justice.

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