Case Digest (A.C. No. 13675)
Facts:
Mary Rose E. Dizon, Randolph Stephen G. Pleyto, and Jonash Belgrade C. Tabanda v. Maila Leilani Trinidad-Radoc, A.C. No. 13675 (Formerly CBD 19-6024), July 11, 2023, the Supreme Court En Banc, Per Curiam. The resolution resolves an administrative complaint for violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility (as updated, the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability or CPRA) filed April 15, 2019 by the three complainants against respondent counsel.The complainants, young entrepreneurs, engaged Atty. Maila Leilani Trinidad-Radoc to pursue a civil action arising from a sublease transaction with Mr. and Mrs. Nemesio Peralta, Jr. Beginning November 2016, respondent solicited and received payments from the complainants purportedly to cover acceptance, filing, attachment, and claims-and-damages fees. The payments aggregated P450,000.00 by February 2017 through a combination of cash, check, and bank deposits to respondent’s accounts.
Respondent represented that she had drafted and filed the complaint, sought an attachment on judicial advice, filed an immigration complaint with the Bureau of Immigration, obtained a P5 million judgment, and arranged sheriff’s sales and deposit of proceeds into the complainants’ bank account. Despite repeated demands and inquiries in 2017, the complainants found no record of any civil case in the Quezon City trial court e-court system and learned the purported bank credits did not exist. Respondent eventually allegedly admitted to defrauding them and executed a handwritten undertaking to return the funds, but failed to do so.
The complainants filed a criminal complaint for estafa and secured a court clerk’s certification confirming no civil case had been filed in their names. They also filed the administrative complaint before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) seeking disbarment and restitution. The IBP Investigating Commissioner found respondent guilty of violating Canons 15 and 16 of the then-applicable Code of Professional Responsibility and recommended suspension for three years; the IBP Board of Governors adopted the recommendation and further proposed fines for respondent’s failure to comply with IBP procedures. The IBP record shows respondent did not file an Answer, did not attend mandatory conferences, and failed to file required papers.
The ca...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is Atty. Maila Leilani Trinidad-Radoc guilty of violating the Code of Professional Responsibility (as embodied in the CPRA) and what penalty should be im...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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