Chapter I INTRODUCTORY §1.01 Preliminary. The law is not a trade nor a craft but a profession. 1 Its basic ideal is to render public service and secure justice for those who seek its aid. 2 If it has to remain an honorable profession and attain its basic ideal, those enrolled in its ranks should not only master its tenets and principles but should also, by their lives, accord continuing fidelity to them. 3 This obligation is not an easy task, and its performance is made difficult by the ever-growing pressure of commercialism in all fields of human endeavor as well as by the fact that those tenets and principles have steadily grown through the years from numerous and scattered sources. 4 The fulfillment of this obligation requires that professional standards be constantly inculcated among lawyers and that the rules and ethics of the profession be collated into a body of principles and made readily available to every attorney as his “manual of equipment without which he cannot do his part to keep ‘Director of Religious Affairs v. Bayot, 74 Phil. 749 (1944); Ledesma v. Climaco, G.R. No. 12815, June 28, 1974; In re Tagorda, 53 Phil. 37 (1929); People v. Daban, G.R. No. 31429, January 21,1972. 2 Mayer v. State Bar, 2 Call2d 71, 39 2d 206 (1934). 3 Docena v. Limon, 295 SCRA 262,266 (1998), citing Agpalo, Legal Ethics, 1983 ed., p. 1. 4 The sources of legal ethics are the pertinent provisions of the Rules of Court, related laws, controlling decisions of the Supreme Court, The Code of Professional Responsibility, the Canons of Professional Ethics, applicable doctrines laid down by the court and writings of legal scholars on the subject. The Philippine system of legal ethics was taken from that of the United States (In re Cunanan, 4 Phil. 543 (1954); Mortel v. Aspiras, 100 Phil. 586 (1956). And the Canons of Professional Ethics observed in this jurisdiction are those of the American Bar Association. (In re Tagorda, Phil. 37 [1927]). Accordingly, this research study makes use of selected cases decided by courts in the United States as well as opinions of the Committee on Professional Ethics and Grievances of the American Bar Asso- ciation, cited hereinafter as A.B.A. Op. No. 1