THE Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer for gross miscon-duct and misappropriating his client’s funds.
The magistrates reached their decision to disbar Demosthenes S. Tecson during their en banc session yesterday.
In its ruling, the SC en banc said Tecson’s action violated the lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountabil-ity.
“Atty. Tecson received for his client P134 million in just com-pensation for an expropriation case but only remitted P53 mil-lion, keeping the rest as his attorney’s fees and for the alleged senatorial campaign of former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima,” a briefer issued by the SC said.
It held that Tecson misappropriated his clients’ money when he failed to remit the full amount despite demand.
“His claim that the money was used to pay a “PR man” to ex-pedite the case was not proven and also constitutes bribery, which violates a lawyer’s duty to observe the law,” the SC add-ed.
The disbarment case against Tecson was filed by his client Mamerta Lizada.
The SC has yet to release a full copy of its decision on the case.
