"x x x.
Even if we assume that Atty. Molina did provide his clients legal
advice, he still cannot be held administratively liable without any showing
that his act was attended with bad faith or malice. The rule on mistakes
committed by lawyers in the exercise of their profession is as follows:
An attorney-at-law is not expected to know all the law. For an honest mistake or error, an attorney is not liable. Chief Justice Abbott said that, no attorney is bound to know all the law; God forbid that it should be imagined that an attorney or a counsel, or even a judge, is bound to know all the law. x x x.
The default rule is presumption of good faith. On the other hand, bad
faith is never presumed. It is a conclusion to be drawn from facts. Its
determination is thus a question of fact and is evidentiary. 15 There is no
evidence, though, to show that the legal advice, assuming it was indeed
given, was coupled with bad faith, malice, or ill-will. The presumption of
good faith, therefore, stands in this case.
x x x."
