Mistakes and negligence of lawyers - sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2012/october2012/194122.pdf

see - sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2012/october2012/194122.pdf

"x x x.


It bears stressing that a lawyer has the responsibility of monitoring and keeping track of the period of time left to file pleadings, and to see to it
that said pleadings are filed before the lapse of the period.  If he fails to do
so, his client is bound by his conduct, negligence and mistakes. In the present case, petitioner and his counsel knew and should have known of the periods within which they are to file their pleadings. In fact, with respect to their  Answer, they should be aware that they had only until July 21, 2007 to file the same because they were the ones who requested for an extension of time to file the said Answer. It was incumbent on petitioners’ counsel to arrange his workload and attend to important and pressing matters such that pleadings are filed within the  prescribed period therefor.

 If the failure of the petitioners’ counsel to cope with his heavy workload should be considered a valid justification to sidestep the reglementary period, there would be no end to litigations so long as counsel had not been sufficiently diligent or experienced.

Time and again, this Court has cautioned lawyers to handle only as many cases as they can efficiently handle.  The zeal and fidelity demanded of a lawyer to his client’s cause require that not only should he be qualified to handle a legal matter, he must  also prepare adequately and give appropriate attention to his legal work. Since a client is, as a rule, bound by the acts of his counsel, a lawyer, once he agrees to take a case, should undertake the task with dedication and care.

 This Court frowns upon a lawyer’s practice of repeatedly seeking extensions of time to file pleadings and thereafter simply letting the  period lapse without submitting any pleading or even any explanation or manifestation for his omission.Failure of a lawyer to seasonably file a pleading constitutes inexcusable negligence on his part.
 
 On the other hand, it would not also be amiss to remind petitioner of the settled rule that litigants, represented by counsel, should not expect that all  they need  to  do  is sit back, relax  and  await the  outcome of their  casc . Instead,  they  should  give  the  necessary  assistance  to  their  counsel  and exercise ·due diligence to monitor the status of the case for what is  at stake is their interest in the case. This petitioner failed to do.
x x x."