THE MOUNTAINEER

Of lawyers and lawyering
EDISON L. BADDAL

The release of the 2007 Bar exams sometime in April this year added another bunch to the nation’s long roster of lawyers. In fact, the number of successful examinees increased when the Supreme Court reconsidered the mammoth efforts invested by the bar hopefuls for the exams by lowering the passing grade from the usual 75% to 70%.

This is a first in the history of the bar exams. For those who passed, it is a big cause for celebration having been able to hurdle a battle royale of their lives that commenced with strenuous four years of academic preparation and capped by an arduous six months review prior to the exams.

For those who failed, some may have experienced emotional devastation and became catatonic or nervous wrecks. Others certainly damned the exams for the nerve-wracking preparation that went to naught, which is nothing to say of the huge drain in financial resources incurred.

Meanwhile, the flunkies who are equipped with stalwart fortitude will have the next bar exams to look forward to. It goes without saying that taking the bar is really tough and should never be trifled with as only those with the natural aptitude are the ones who usually make the grade.

While many passers may have gloated for having breezed through the bar at the very first attempt, many who failed a number of times may never relent even to the extent of enduring a year of refresher course until they fail again for good. But that is another story altogether.
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Sometimes I often wondered why many people are attracted to the law profession. In my eccentric cogitations on this, many questions crop up like: Is it because of inherent prestige that lawyers are accorded to that many are desiring to be lawyers?

Or is it because of the inherent power and authority attributed to the profession that people are attracted to it? Or it might be because of a measure of fame and easy money attached to the profession that people are anxious to be lawyers?

There are countless reasons as to why many people are enamored to the law profession. But over and above all, one reason stands out as to why many persons aspire to be lawyers – the lure of easy money.

Don’t get me wrong in making this drastic generalization as I have many lawyer friends, let alone many relatives and town mates who are lawyers. In my dealings with them, I have observed that the fiber of easy money is the catgut that binds them to the occupation.

There are exceptions to this categorization as there are lawyers whose genuine pursuit is the end of justice especially those who have been hapless victims of injustice at some point in their lives. The latter type are exemplified by the government lawyers who are mostly trying to make ends meet just like the rest of starving government employees with their meager salaries.

They are the lawyers who shunned the path of easy money in order to serve the ideal ends of justice; the kind of justice that was envisioned by Plato,Aristotle,wartime President Jose P. Laurel, Jose Diokno, Jovito Salonga, Claro M. Recto and others.
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Call me impudent,brash or what-have-you but I dare say that the lure of easy money might be the very reason why a lot of lawyers turn out to be pettifoggers and shysters. They are experts at carping over inconsistencies in the wordings of the law in order to delay the proceedings or cause the cases they are handling to drag.

At other times, they resort to all unpalatable and chintzy tactics to temporize the rendering of a court decision especially if its turning out to be against their client’s favor. They resort to equivocation or gobblegook in order to circumvent the letter and spirit of the law hence gain a technical advantage.

They also cook up all antics they could muster to make a good impression to the sitting judge whom they are trying to convince. In the process, values or virtues imbibed in their formative years, let alone the stirrings of the conscience, are shunted aside all in consideration of money or lucre.

However, it is a given that lawyering is a business venture in itself and court victories through shrewd, if fallacious, arguments is its main selling point in order to gain clients. Fact is, the higher the winning average, the more clients and more money. In a nutshell, the calculating use of wit, appropriate tactics and tried and tested strategies, even if against one’s scruples or moral moorings, is the hallmark of a brilliant, successful and cutting-edge law practice.

Just how much a typical lawyer makes in a single day is anybody’s guess. But presumptively, lawyering as an occupation yields more than what a typical earner gains. For one, a lawyer is paid a minimum of 300 pesos and a maximum of 1,000 bucks or more as notarial fee just for one affidavit. If a lawyer notarizes about five affidavits a day, he will be about P1,500 to P5,000 richer in just one day.

Add to that an average of one court appearance a day which is charged a minimum of 500 to one thousand pesos or more, not to mention the free snacks and meals at the expense of the poor client, that add up to a hefty sum. In another instance, a lawyer’s gasoline expenses or fares, including lodging expenses incurred in court hearings out of town, are likewise charged against the resources of the client.

He is also entitled to ten per cent of the amount involved in a civil case which involves transactions or disputes on real property or money matters. Topping these all is the high-end acceptance fee charged against clients. Simply put, a prominent lawyer with an established practice may be earning an average of 10,000 or more a day while a neophyte but hotshot lawyer earns between 2,500 to 3,000 a day.
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Another probable albeit incidental reason for the charm of the legal profession for many Filipinos is our innate love as a people for talk and more talk. Many will inveigh against this but it is truism that Filipinos have more penchant for talk rather than action. Hence, annoying delays mark the implementation of projects, programs and activities.

Typically, our love for talk is manifested by our bent to engage in talking in every opportunity anytime anywhere. Although talking is a vital part of communication, we tend to overdo it as a people than other nations or races.

In fact, in offices it is typical to find employees engaged in talking and blabbing while glancing at the clock every now and then to see if its break time or exit time. In another angle, this could be related to our inclination as a people for form rather than substance.
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This is not to downgrade lawyers nor disregard the merits of lawyering as a profession as it is no doubt a noble profession. Abraham Lincoln was a brilliant but noble lawyer before he became president of the United States and consequently hailed as the greatest at that. He invested moral precepts and integrity in his governance.

Lee Kwan Yew, the founding prime minister of Singapore who transformed his country from a marshy land into the financial capital of the world was a practicing lawyer before he became a leader. When he became a leader, however, he leveraged his business acumen with his legal skills in governing his country.
In this country, lawyers who became presidents have been mortified in terms of performance by non-lawyers. The exception to this bunch of bungling lawyer-leaders are ex-presidents Elpidio Quirino and Manuel Roxas who are regarded as having performed above par.

Most of the non-lawyer presidents starting with Ramon Magsaysay up to the current woman at the helm have left a tinge of worthy performance except Erap who proved to be the worst president ever. For Emilio Aguinaldo, another non-lawyer, he presided over a short-lived first Philippine republic with dignity and integrity.
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At this point, it seems lawyering as a profession is not vital for the nation to move forward. With the economy hardly taking off even with the gargantuan efforts of bureaucrats, what’s needed are not talking jerks, as they seem to stall development efforts, but the technocrats and the manual workers. They are the
vital cogs for this nation to attain development like the rest of the Asians.

Just consider Japan , the world’s second biggest economy. As a people, the
Japanese are more doers than talkers and imbued with a sense of honor in their actions. They follow the bushido code, which is a list of dos and don’ts, with strict obedience as well as abide by the moral teachings of Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucianism.