THE Supreme Court (SC) is planning to impose 60 hours of pro bono legal work on all Philippine lawyers through the Unified Legal Assistance Services (ULAS) program.
In his newspaper column, retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban said that the work would cover both litigation and non-litigation work, as reported by abogado.com
He noted that the Supreme Court has held public consultations on this plan, and it expects “feedback and insights that will be taken into consideration in [finalizing] the Rules.”
He also said the new rules would replace earlier initiatives that restricted legal aid service only to litigation work, and did not recognize the other aspects of law practice.
The implementation of the ULAS would be “earth shaking” since it will cover the “abogados de campanilla” who charge as high as $1000 per hour, he said.
He also said that the High Court believes that the practice of law is one that is imbued with public interest, and membership in the Bar is a privilege.
metrosundaily
