Facts:

The case involves Felicitas S. Quiambao (complainant) and Atty. Nestor A. Bamba (respondent), with the decision rendered on August 25, 2005. Felicitas Quiambao served as the president and managing director of Allied Investigation Bureau, Inc. (AIB), a family-run business providing security and investigation services, from June 2000 until her resignation in January 2001. During her tenure, she engaged Atty. Bamba’s legal services for both corporate matters of AIB and her personal legal issues. He was the counsel of record in an ejectment case she filed against the spouses Santiago and Florita Torroba on December 29, 2000, in the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) of Parañaque City, for which she paid him attorney's fees.

After Quiambao's resignation, on June 14, 2001, Atty. Bamba filed a replevin case on behalf of AIB against Quiambao in the MeTC of Quezon City, seeking to recover a car assigned to her. Notably, at this time, Bamba continued to represent Quiambao in the ongo

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Facts:

Background of the Parties

• Complainant: Felicitas S. Quiambao, former president and managing director of Allied Investigation Bureau, Inc. (AIB), a family-owned security and investigation service company.
• Respondent: Atty. Nestor A. Bamba, who was engaged to provide both corporate legal services to AIB and personal legal representation to the complainant.

Sequence of Events and Representations

• The complainant retained the respondent for several legal matters:
• Representing her personally in an ejectment case against Spouses Santiago and Florita Torroba (filed on December 29, 2000, before the Metropolitan Trial Court of ParaAaque City, Civil Case No. 11928).
• Handling the corporate affairs of AIB while she was still its president.
• Approximately six months after resigning as AIB president (June 14, 2001), the respondent, acting as legal counsel for AIB, filed a complaint for replevin and damages against the complainant to recover a service vehicle assigned to her by AIB.
• Notably, the respondent maintained his role as counsel of record in the pending ejectment case while simultaneously representing AIB in the replevin case against the complainant.

Allegations of Disloyalty and Double-Dealing

• The complainant charged the respondent with engaging in acts that exhibited disloyalty and double-dealing, including:
• Proposing that the complainant organize her own security agency, which allegedly induced her resignation from AIB.
• Assisting in forming Quiambao Risk Management Specialists, Inc. (QRMSI), wherein he was implicated as a "silent partner" through his associate, Atty. Gerardo P. Hernandez.
• Further, the respondent was accused of involvement in structuring another competing security agency, San Esteban Security Services, Inc. (SESSI):
• Conspiring with the complainant’s brother, Leodegario Quiambao, to divert funds from AIB to support SESSI.
• Assuming roles in both organizations simultaneously—serving as legal counsel for AIB and, as well as president, incorporator, and stockholder of SESSI.

Respondent’s Defense and Admissions

• The respondent admitted to representing the complainant in the ejectment case and AIB in the replevin case against her.
• He contended that:
• He was not the complainant’s personal lawyer but was fulfilling additional responsibilities as counsel for AIB, which included handling personal matters of its officers when requested.
• Despite acknowledging the potential for overlap, he maintained that the ejectment and replevin cases were unrelated, involving different issues and parties.
• Any confidential information from one case would not be relevant or used against the other.
• With regard to his role in other security agencies:
• He denied having accepted a "silent partner" role in QRMSI personally, asserting that his associate, Atty. Hernandez, was designated in that capacity.
• He also denied convincing Leodegario Quiambao to establish SESSI or improperly diverting funds from AIB.

Findings of the Investigating Commissioner

• Based on the undisputed facts, it was found that the respondent:
• Represented conflicting interests by remaining counsel of record for the complainant in the ejectment case while filing a replevin case on behalf of AIB.
• Engaged in activities—such as advising on the incorporation of QRMSI and assisting in the establishment of SESSI—that resulted in a dual representation, creating potential for conflicts of interest.
• The investigating commissioner recommended a suspension from the practice of law for one year, which was later reduced by the IBP Board of Governors to a stern reprimand in its initial resolution.

Issue:

The Primary Issue

• Whether the respondent committed misconduct by representing conflicting interests when he simultaneously acted as counsel for the complainant in an ejectment case and for AIB in a replevin case against her.

Subsidiary Issues

• Whether the respondent’s involvement in assisting the complainant in organizing QRMSI and in the establishment of SESSI—while still serving AIB—constituted additional breaches of loyalty and created the appearance of double-dealing.
• Whether the respondent’s justification, that the cases were unrelated in terms of issues and parties, is sufficient to dispel the conflict of interest.
• Whether the absence of a full disclosure to both clients and the lack of the required written consent as mandated by Rule 15.03, Canon 15 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, nullifies the respondent’s defense.

Ruling:

• (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

• (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

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