San Sebastian College-Recoletos College of Law

LEGAL PROFESSION
Syllabus/Course Outline
Atty. Juan Emmanuel M. Reyes

I. Introduction
Studying for law
Legal reading article
Socratic and case methods
Legal method (“thinking like a lawyer”) – Prof. Dante Gatmaytan
book chapters
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Chapter 16 (1831)
Dr. James Raymond essay

Goal of legal education (Carnegie Foundation Report [2005]):

1) Legal method
2) Practical experience
3) Socio-ethical responsibility

“Legal education needs to be responsive to both the needs of our time and
recent knowledge about how learning takes place; it needs to combine the
elements of legal professionalism—conceptual knowledge, skill and moral
discernment—into the capacity for judgment guided by a sense of
professional responsibility (‘socio-ethical role’). Legal education should seek
to unite the two sides of legal knowledge: formal knowledge and experience
of practice.”

II. Road to the legal profession

Pre-law  law proper  graduation/review  Bar exams 
Passing/Oath-taking/Roll-signing  Practice/Ethics/Discipline &
Disbarment

III. “Profession”
John Wade article (“Public Responsibilities of the Learned
Professions”)
Dean Roscoe Pound’s definition
Elements
Multi-faceted duties of a lawyer (society, profession, court, client)
Admission to the Legal Profession
Rule 138

1
IV. State regulation
Supreme Court mandate
Article 8, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution – Rule-making power in
the areas of “Pleading, practice, procedure”; “admission to the
practice of law”, “integration of the bar”

History of Supreme Court’s rule-making power

1935 Constitution
1973 Constitution
1987 Constitution
“Bar Flunkers Act of 1953” (In re: Albino Cunanan [GR. No. L-6874,
March 18, 1954])
Echegaray vs. Sec. of Justice (G.R. No. 132601, January 19, 1999)

Congress & executive mandate

Legislative – Enactment of R.A. 7662 (Legal Education Act)
Executive – CHED as regular member of the Legal Education Board

V. Legal education
Rule 138

Pre-law
Law school qualifications

Law school
Law subjects (see SSC Ll.B/JD Curriculum)

Legal Education Board (R.A. 7662)

CHED resolution (2001) - Law degree qualifies as a CHED-accredited

master’s degree

CSC resolution (1997) – Law degree qualifies holder for appointment

to Division Chief positions in government

Post-law school legal education

- mandatory (MCLE; Bar Matter No. 850 [2000])
- discretionary (masteral and doctoral degrees)
- Pre-judicature program of the Philippine Judicial Academy –
qualifies graduates for possible appointment by the Judicial
and Bar Council (JBC) to judicial posts

2
VI. Bar examinations & Admission to Practice of Law
Qualifications/requirements for Bar exams application
Bar subjects
Bar examinations; schedule; rule on passing/flunking
Oath-taking & Roll-signing
Attorney’s Oath

Atty. Oscar Franklin Tan essay (“Why Bar Exams Ruin Legal
Education”)
Dean Cesar Villanueva essay (“Defining the Gravamen: The Bar
Reform Movement”)

R.A. No. 1080 (1954) – Bar examinations is declared a civil service

examination

Bar Matter No. 702 (1994)

- a person who has passed the Shari’a Bar Examination is only a
special member of the Philippine Bar and not a full-fledged
member thereof even if he is a Bachelor of Laws degree holder.
As such, he is authorized to practice only in the Shari'a courts
- Shari’a District Courts do not form part of the integrated
judicial system of the Philippines; they are mere courts of
limited jurisdiction pursuant to P.D. No. 1083

VII. Practice of Law

Definition of “practice of law”in Cayetano vs. Monsod (G.R. No.
100113, September 3, 1991, 201 SCRA 210)
Elements

- “Membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with

conditions.”
- “a high personal privilege limited to citizens of good moral
character, with special educational qualifications, duly
ascertained and certified” (In re: Raul Argosino, B.M. No. 712,
July 13, 1995)

Practice of law as employment and as self-employed professional

Notarial practice
Supreme Court 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice (A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC)
Powers of a Notary Public (Rule IV, Sec. 1)

3
Felipe B. Almazan, Sr. vs. Atty. Marcelo B. Suerte-Felipe (A.C. No.
7184, September 17, 2014)

Legal Ethics
Attorney’s Oath
Code of Professional Responsibility

Prohibited practice for government lawyers

Sec. 7, RA 6713
Sec. 90, RA 7160
Felipe E. Abella vs. Atty. Asteria E. Cruzabra (A.C. No. 5688, June 4,
2009)
Query of Atty. Karen Silverio-Buffe (A.M. No. 08-6-352-RTC, August
19, 2009)
Victor C. Lingan vs. Attys. Romeo Calubaquib and Jimmy P. Baliga
(A.C. No. 5377, June 30, 2014)

VIII. Integrated Bar of the Philippines

Rule 139-A (1973)

“Integration” vs. “Creation”

In re: Atty. Marcial Edillon (A.M. 1928, August 3, 1978)

History of Supreme Court rule-making power

1935 Constitution
- RA 6397 (1971)
- PD 181 (1973)
1973 Constitution
1987 Constitution

IX. Available jobs to Lawyers

Princeton Law Review article
Government service, private sector (law firm, business, social work,
etc.)

VIII. Lawyer’s duties to society

Promotion of the Rule of Law: Reflections on the Binays defiance of
the Ombudsman suspension order
Public service - Ross Malone article
Shaping legislation - Clark Bradley article

4
IX. Other topics

ASEAN economic integration

- Senator Drilon speech (“ASEAN Integration and the Legal
Profession”)
- Elfren Cruz article (“Changing How Lawyers Are Educated”)
- Atty. Ricardo Romulo article (“Lawyers Rise, ASEAN
Economic Integration Is Here”)
- Senator Angara article (“A Law School Fit For The Next 100
Years”)

Gerardo Sicat article (“Lawyers And Economic Development, Or

Why We Stumble Oftentimes”)

Taxation of lawyers
Employed
Self-employed
Law partnerships – Tan vs. Del Rosario (G.R. No. 109289, October 3,
1994)