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In The Matter of The Petition For Authority To Continue Use of The Firm Name "Ozaeta, Romulo, de Leon, Mabanta & Reyes

The Supreme Court denied a petition from the law firm "Ozaeta, Romulo, De Leon, Mabanta & Reyes" to continue using the name of their deceased partner, Herminio Ozaeta, in their firm name. While U.S. custom allows the continued use of deceased partners' names, Philippine custom does not recognize this practice. Firm names in the Philippines typically identify the most active partners and change when partners join or leave. It would be questionable to maintain the name of a partner who is deceased, as they were not technically partners with the new members. Therefore, the Court ruled the firm must remove "OZAETA" from its name.

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165 views2 pages

In The Matter of The Petition For Authority To Continue Use of The Firm Name "Ozaeta, Romulo, de Leon, Mabanta & Reyes

The Supreme Court denied a petition from the law firm "Ozaeta, Romulo, De Leon, Mabanta & Reyes" to continue using the name of their deceased partner, Herminio Ozaeta, in their firm name. While U.S. custom allows the continued use of deceased partners' names, Philippine custom does not recognize this practice. Firm names in the Philippines typically identify the most active partners and change when partners join or leave. It would be questionable to maintain the name of a partner who is deceased, as they were not technically partners with the new members. Therefore, the Court ruled the firm must remove "OZAETA" from its name.

Uploaded by

Cien Ego-Ogan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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*In the matter of the petition for authority to continue use of the firm name “Ozaeta,

Romulo, De Leon, Mabanta & Reyes…” etc.


92 SCRA 1, July 30, 1979
Melencio-Herrera, J:

FACTS:
 Two separate Petitions were filed before this Court 1) by the surviving partners of
Atty. Alexander Sycip, who died on May 5, 1975, and 2) by the surviving partners of
Atty. Herminio Ozaeta, who died on February 14, 1976, praying that they be allowed
to continue using, in the names of their firms, the names of partners who had passed
away.
 Petitioners argued that under the law, a partnership is not prohibited from
continuing its business under a firm name which includes the name of a deceased
partner; in fact, Article 1840 of the Civil Code explicitly sanctions the practice when
it provides in the last paragraph that: “The use by the person or partnership
continuing the business of the partnership name, or the name of a deceased partner
as part thereof, shall not of itself make the individual property of the deceased
partner liable for any debts contracted by such person or partnership. “ and that the
Canons of Professional Ethics are not transgressed by the continued use of the name
of a deceased partner in the firm name of a law partnership because Canon 33 of the
Canons of Professional Ethics adopted by the American Bar Association declares
that “... The continued use of the name of a deceased or former partner when
permissible by local custom, is not unethical but care should be taken that no
imposition or deception is practiced through this use. ...”
ISSUE:
Whether or not the law firm “Ozaeta, Romulo, De Leon, Mabanta & Reyes” is allowed to
sustain the name of their deceased partner, Atty. Herminio Ozaeta, in the name of their
firm.
HELD:
No.
Canon 33 of the Canons of Professional Ethics adopted by the American Bar Association
stated the following: “The continued use of the name of a deceased or former partner when
permissible by local custom, is not unethical but care should be taken that no imposition or
deception is practiced through this use.” No local custom permits or allows the continued
use of a deceased or former partner’s name in the firm names of law partnerships. Firm
names, under Philippine custom, identify the more active or senior partners in a firm. Firm
names in the Philippines change and evolve when partners die, leave or a new one is added.
It is questionable to add the new name of a partner and sustain the name of the deceased
one since they have never been, technically, partners in the first place. When it comes to the
arguments of the petitioners stating that U.S. Courts grant the continued use of the
deceased partner’s name, this is so because in the U.S., it is a sanctioned custom as stated in
the case of Mendelsohn v. Equitable Life Assurance Society (33 N.Y.S 2d 733). This does not
apply in the Philippines. The petition filed herein is denied and petitioner is advised to
drop the name “OZAETA” from the firm name.

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