- Petitioner
- Elnora R. Cortes
- Respondent
- Court of Appeals
- Citation
- G.R. No. 121772
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- Second Division
- Ponente
- Austria-Martinez, J.
- Decided
- January 13, 2003
Summary
This Supreme Court case involves a dispute over attorney's fees between spouses Elnora and Edmundo Cortes and their former lawyer, Atty. Felix Moya. The spouses hired Moya to represent them in a land sale case against F.S. Management & Development Corp. When the underlying case was settled, the parties agreed in open court to pay Moya P100,000.00 as attorney's fees. However, the spouses later challenged this amount as excessive. The RTC and Court of Appeals upheld the P100,000.00 award with interest. The Supreme Court modified the decision, reducing the attorney's fees to P50,000.00 based on the quantum meruit principle and the limited services actually rendered by Moya. The Court emphasized that attorney's fees must be reasonable and proportionate to services rendered, applying guidelines from the Rules of Court and Code of Professional Responsibility. The decision reinforces that lawyering is not a money-making venture and attorney compensation is subject to court supervision.