Jesus M Elbinias
I JOIN the complaint written by a reader in the opinion page of a local broadsheet (not this) with the heading: "Manner of Bar Exam Result Release Undignified. The reader complained that about 5,000 examinees who had paid an average of R2,500 each as the examination fee were treated like dogs scrambling and squabbling just to be able to peek at the result of the exam posted outside the Court of Appeals. The complainant asked if the Judicial and Bar Council would take the responsibility in case a stampede happens during the release of the Bar results and wondered why the result couldn’t be released using the high-tech electronic means with all the fees received by the Supreme Court. With years of study, six months of review, and four Sundays of exams. As the reader said, "Let us remember that at least a third of these examinees will be the new lawyers of this country."
As a challenge to the IBP, he posed this question:
"How can the IBP stand by and watch their future colleagues being treated this way? Surely there must be better ways to treat our future lawyers."
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But those are not the only ordeals that new lawyers will have to face. Let me paraphrase what has been written by one writer among other writers, poets, artists, judges, lawyers and assorted professionals who have joined to teach those who will never learn in law school about the rib-tickling end of the bar. In this column I paraphrase American lawyer A.J. Shannon’s poem printed in a book "Trials & Tribulations," which describes the ordeals of a new lawyer handling the first case in his practice. I hope you will find it legally appealing. Here goes:
The little office.
The diploma on the wall.
The picture of the Supreme Court.
The months of waiting.
The swivel chair beneath the steam pipe.
The endless perusal of magazines.
The doze.
The unexpected knock at the door.
The search for a pen.
The rustling papers.
The busy air.
The visions of a wealthy client.
The dream of a fat fee;.
The palpitation of the heart.
The brisk "Come in."
The destitute washerwoman.
The quarrel over a hog.
The scrambled recital of facts.
The retainer of two dollars.
The search for the law.
The failure to find anything.
The remembrance of the Digest.
The vast collection of cases.
The hours of labor.
The bringing of suit.
The trials.
The fight with counsel.
The unfair judge.
The recalcitrant witness.
The laugh at your expense.
The speech to the court.
The cold sweat.
The words that will not come.
The sleeping Judge.
The motions you ask for. The rules you get.
The adverse verdict.
The lame explanation.
The anger of your client.
The loud criticism of your ability, and
The fee you never receive.
* * *
NOTE: Now you know how it is for a lawyer to earn his living. It will take time for a new lawyer to learn how to be an effective court trial lawyer through reading books written by law professors dueling on trial technique. When I was among the Manila Ateneo’s Law Faculty and handling the subjects of Remedial Law, Evidence, Trial Technique, and Practice Court, I prescribed to my students the book I wrote titled:
"Trial Complex." At that time, whenever I met lawyer friends who asked what law book should they read to enhance their knowledge in lawyering, especially trial technique, I always suggested to them to read that book of mine (Trial Complex) not for the royalties I would earned from the publisher if they were my friends, and would not suggest such book to lawyers who were not —and had not been — my friends so that they (the latter) need not bother about analyzing the complexes involved in conducting the trial in court, especially if they were not decided to be a great court trial lawyer. I wrote that book when I was teaching in Ateneo in the 1980s. The book has been reprinted with slight alteration by the Merriam Webster Publishing (Manila).
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