II.

Law School

B. Competence
As the law profession is regarded as one of the most glamorous professions,
many individuals want to become a lawyer.1 Nonetheless, to be a lawyer basically
involves passing the bar examinations. Passing the bar examinations however depend
on the proper skills learned in the study of law.

It is better to start with the proper attitude a law student should have as this
will have a great bearing in his preparation.

a) Dreams/Ambitions

- A student should dream to become a lawyer. There is no place for half-

heartedness in the law school. This will serve as his energy in taking his day-to-day tasks.
Although, many of those who become lawyers initially did not dream of becoming
one,yet when the have experienced the hardship in the law school and upon
recollection of the possible oppurtunities the law profession offers, they have aspired to
be part of the legal profession. If you decide to be a lawyer, you must decide whole-
heartedly.

b) Perseverance

-A law student must be determined to hurdle the bar even if it will take great
degree of sacrifice for his part. While studying law, one must be prepared to make some
adjustments to his schedule. Those less important activities should be taken at the side-
line. The family will definitely be affected but if the student has the ability to manage his
time effectively, that will help a lot.

c) Patience

-Studying law requires a great degree of patience, reading and analyzing each
provision of law, and in long years of study. Also, the long years of study required to
finish the course may discourage a law student to continue studying law. But if he is
patient and taking his everyday activities in school at a time with full concentration, it
will definitely bring him to the ladder of success.

Dean Fortunato Gupit, in his article “How to be a Lawyer,”2 maintains that the
basic tools one must have to study law and to pass the bar examinations are the so-
called three L’s, namely Language, Logic and Law.

1
Comments on Legal Profession, Edgardo M. Villareal II (2002)
2
Gupit, How to be a Lawyer, cited in Coquia, Legal Profession.
 a) Language - is the tool of the law. It is the instrument by which you
understand, analyse and express the law. If you have no working mastery of it, it stands
as a big barrier between you and your listener or reader, who may be your professor or
worst, he may even be the bar examiner himself. Faulty command of the language is a
huge roadblock to both comprehension and expression.

b) Logic or Critical analysis - Together with language, logic is expected to be

possessed by the law student. It is not about intelligence or brilliancy but accurately
evaluating the facts. As long as you can accurately evaluate a certain state of facts using
your logical analysis, you are trekking the right path. If you know language, more or less
you know logic. You do not know logic if you do not know language.

c) Law – this is the only tool in the law study that one will learn in law school. To
know the law, one must read and continue reading to keep himself abreast with the
current laws and jurisprudence of the country. Since a lot of reading is required in the
law school, it is imperative for a student to train himself in speed-reading and to
familiarize himself with legal terms and phrases towards easy comprehension.