Lawyer files P1.4M damage suit vs Tan matriarch
JIZ
The celebrated massacre of Filipino-Chinese couple and their 6 year-old daughter has now taken a different twist with a P1.4 million damage suit filed by an Ilonggo lawyer who once served as family counsel.
The civil case set for filing this week is for "sum of money for breach of contract and damages" with lawyer Leonardo Jiz and the Jiz, Jiz, Andrada, Gellada and Associates as plaintiffs. Sole defendant is Conchita Tan, matriarch of the Tan family and aunt of murdered couple Bobby and Cindy Zayco-Tan.
In a five-page complaint, the plaintiffs seek the P1.4 million moral and exemplary damages alongside P100,000 in attorney's fees and litigation expenses of P50,000. This, they averred was due to the insults supposedly hurled by Tan thru a letter signed by the defendant's new counsel after their services ended.
Added to it, the plaintiffs said the defendant and her new counsel "falsely claimed untruthful facts that professionally embarrassed and caused undue sufferings and sleepless nights to the plaintiffs and his associates, that after a long and thorough soul searching finally decided to file this case to secure justice, for the injustice done by the defendant Conchita and her new lawyer."
"Without the knowledge and consent of the plaintiffs and contrary to legal ethics, a new counsel entered his appearance in, hence, counsel sent a letter requesting to terminate his legal services and requested for the payment of their fees, however defendant Conchita insisted and begged the plaintiffs to continue rendering the services and not to abandon her. The plaintiffs continued rendering their services in collaboration with the new lawyer and defendant Conchita Tan specifically requested the plaintiffs to send their bills for the additional services," excerpts of the complaint stated.
Yet due to conflict in legal strategy, the plaintiffs said they eventually pushed to end their services and collect fees due them. Such as the plaintiffs pointed out that they wanted out of the Tan case "to free their good name from the flimsy and unjustifiable legal courses of action being made by the new counsel."
The Tan murders had the two children of Bobby from a different woman as principal suspects. The case awaits resolution from the Office of the City Prosecutor with the murdered couple's surviving children now in the custody of the Zayco family.