FIRST DIVISION
[A.C. No. 9420. January 21, 2019.]
PATROLGUARD & ALLIED SERVICES CORPORATION REP. BY ATTY. EPAFRODITO NOLLORA, petitioners,vs. ATTY. ALFREDITO E. FORTEZA, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution dated January 21, 2019 which reads as follows:
"A.C. No. 9420[Formerly CBD Case No. 13-3991] (Patrolguard & Allied Services Corporation Rep. By Atty. Epafrodito Nollora vs. Atty. Alfredito E. Forteza)
Before Us is a complaint for disbarment filed against respondent Atty. Alfredito E. Forteza.
Atty. Forteza was the counsel on record of complainant. In an earlier suit against complainant, Atty. Forteza filed an "answer with opposition to the Plaintiff's application for a Writ of Preliminary Injunction." Thereafter, Atty. Forteza failed to file the required pre-trial brief and to attend the pre-trial conference, which caused complainant to be declared in default on May 29, 2008. Complainant sought reconsideration but was denied in an October 10, 2008 Order. 1
While Atty. Forteza claimed that he was a mere collaborating lawyer and that he had subsequently withdrawn as counsel for complainant, the Investigating Commissioner of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) found that he was in fact the counsel on record and his withdrawal as counsel was only received by the Regional Trial Court on August 4, 2008. Thus, he was still the counsel of complainant when the latter was declared in default. 2
In his evaluation and report, the Investigating IBP Commissioner recommended that Atty. Forteza be reprimanded. 3
The IBP-Board of Governors (IBP-BOG), while affirming the findings of the Investigating IBP Commissioner, opted to increase the penalty and issued the following Resolution No. XXI-2015-098 on January 31, 2015.
RESOLVED to ADOPT and APPROVE as it is hereby ADOPTED and APPROVED, with modification, the Report and Recommendation of the Investigating Commissioner in the above-entitled case, herein made part of this Resolution as Annex "A", finding Respondent's failure to file Pre-Trial Brief and to attend the Pre-Trial Conference resulting in the declaration of the Complainants as in default. Hence, Atty. Alfredito E. Forteza, is hereby SUSPENDED from the practice of law for six (6) months.4 (Italics and emphasis in the original)
We affirm the recommendations of the IBP-Board of Governors.
An attorney is bound to protect his client's interest to the best of his ability and with utmost diligence. A failure to file brief for his client certainly constitutes inexcusable negligence on his part. The respondent has indeed committed a serious lapse in the duty owed by him to his client as well as to the Court not to delay litigation and to aid in the speedy administration of justice. 5
Certainly, Atty. Forteza had a duty to the court, as its officer, and an obligation to his client by diligently complying with the orders of the court and attending to the schedules and settings of the court with conviction.
WHEREFORE, for his failure to file a Pre-Trial Brief and to attend the Pre-Trial Conference resulting in the declaration of the Complainant as in default, Atty. Alfredito E. Forteza is hereby SUSPENDED from the practice of law for six (6) months.
Let copies of this Resolution be furnished to all the courts, the Office of the Bar Confidant, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines for their information and guidance. The Office of the Bar Confidant is directed to append a copy of this Resolution to respondent's record as a member of the Bar.
The Notice of Resolution No. XXII-2016-627 dated November 29, 2016 of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines' Board of Governors which resolved to deny the respondent's motion for reconsideration and affirm his suspension from the practice of law for a period of six (6) months, there being no new reason nor argument adduced to justify the reversal of the decision of the Board of Governors, transmitted by letter dated June 9, 2017 of Director Ramon S. Esguerra, Integrated Bar of the Philippines' Commission on Bar Discipline, together with the records and compact disc containing the PDF file of the case, are both NOTED.
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENADivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Rollo, pp. 281-283.
2.Id. at 282-283.
3.Id. at 283.
4.Id. at 279.
5.The Heirs of Tiburcio F Ballesteros, Sr., namely Elsie B. Aromin, Dolores D. Ballesteros, Tiburcio B. Ballesteros, Jr., and Fe Ballesteros-Yabut, and the Rural Bank of Pagadian, Inc., represented by Julian B. Ballesteros in his capacity as Administrator of the Estate and President/Manager of the Bank v. Atty. Manileño N. Apiag, 508 Phil. 113 (2005).