Bicol College

College of Law
Daraga, Albay

POSSIBLE AREAS OF REFORM IN LEGAL

PROFESSION

By

ARNIE A. MAGDAONG, Ed. D.

INTRODUCTION
Legal profession is a profession, and legal professionals study, develop
and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career
in law to first obtain a law degree or some other form of legal education.1
Membership in the legal profession is achieved only after a long and
laborious study. By years of patience, zeal and ability, the attorney acquires
a fixed means of support for himself and his family. This is not to say,
however, that the emphasis is on the pecuniary value of this profession but
rather on the social prestige and intellectual standing necessarily arising
from and attached to the same person of the fact that everyone is deemed
an officer of the court.
On the one hand, the profession of an attorney is of great importance
to an individual and the prosperity of his life may depend on its exercise. The
right to exercise it ought not to be lightly or capriciously taken from him. On
the other hand, it extremely desirable that the respectability of the Bar
should be maintained and that its harmony with the Bench should be
preserved. For these objects, some controlling power, some moderation, and
judgment, must be exercised.

Reforms in the legal profession are of great importance considering the

crucial role of the legal professionals in the country. Different areas in the
legal profession must respond to the change of time and it shall also take its
new form to balance the interest of the public and the lawyers.
This paper would discuss some important reforms in some areas of the
legal profession.

BODY

There are four areas that I believe should be the subjects of reforms in
the legal profession. These are the educational system governing the law
schools, the requirements for all applicants for admission to the BAR, the
conduct of the BAR examination and some of the rules in the code of
professional responsibility.
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM GOVERNING THE LAW SCHOOLS THAT NEED
REFORMS
The educational system governing the law schools should be reformed.
The first and foremost rule that should be amended is the rule under Rule
138 section 6 of the Rules of Court which states that no applicant for
admission to the BAR examination shall be admitted unless he presents a
certificate that he has satisfied the Secretary of Education that, before he
began the study of law, he had pursued and satisfactorily completed in an
authorized and recognized university or college, requiring for admission
thereto the completion of a four-year high school course, the course of study
prescribed therein for a Bachelors degree in Arts or Sciences with any of the
following subjects as major or field of concentration: Political Science, Logic,
English, Spanish, History and Economics.
It can be gleaned from the abovementioned rule that it requires only a
completion of a four-year high school which definitely would not be
applicable anymore two years from now because of the change in the
curriculum imposed by the Department of Education. The rule should now
require the completion of four-year junior high school and two-year senior
high school.
The Pre-Law course should not just any course. There should be a
certain course that should be considered as a pre-law course which would
offer subjects that would certainly be relevant to law proper. In other words it
would be a course practically designed as preparatory course for law proper.
The Pre-law course should only be two years. The first year would proffer all
the six English subjects that would constitute the needed eighteen (18) units,

history subjects that the main focus would be on the different laws
promulgated in the Philippines, Logic, Economics, Latin and Spanish
languages. The second year would offer the study of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution which would be divided into 18 subjects. Each subject would
focus only on one article of the said Constitution.
The students who intend to take the Pre-law course must undergo strict
entrance examination and interview. Their average grade in Form 138 must
not be lower than 85. This policy would help in insuring that the students
who would qualify to take the pre-law course are intelligent. At this level, the
school must already be strict in determining whether the student is of good
moral character or not.
The instructors who should be admitted to teach in the college of law
must be a lawyer and a license teacher who had taken up at least eighteen
units of professional education. The reason behind is that a teacher in law
school must possess the needed skill in teaching. It is not just enough to be
knowledgeable in law but it is also necessary that he knows on how to
effectively share his knowledge with his students.
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL APPLICANTS FOR ADMISSION TO THE
BAR THAT NEED REFORMS
Rule 130 Section 2 of the attorneys & admission to BAR provides for
requirement for all applicants for admission to the BAR. It states that every
applicant for admission as a member of the BAR must be a citizen of the
Philippines, at least twenty-one (21) years of age, of good moral character,
and a resident of the Philippines; and must produce before the Supreme
Court satisfactory evidence of good moral character, and that no charges
against him, involving moral turpitude, have been filed or are pending in any
court in the Philippines.
The

abovementioned

rule

should

have

included

the

required

educational attainment. The last clause of the rule should be changed.

Instead of having this clause and that no charges against him, involving

moral turpitude, have been filed or are pending in any court in the
Philippines, it should be and that no previous conviction by final judgment
involving moral turpitude. The constitutional right of the accused must be
applied on this rule. Under section 14, paragraph 2 of the Constitution in all
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be presumed innocent until the
contrary is proved. This last clause of the rule seems violative of the
aforestated constitutional right of the accused. The presumption of
innocence seemed not applied in this rule. It would be detrimental on the
part of the applicant who had studied for about four years or more if he
would not be allowed to take the BAR examination just because of charges
filed and pending cases against him that involved moral turpitude. How
about if the charges are not true? This could have a damaging effect to the
drive of the applicant in passing the BAR examination. The eagerness and
the condition of mind of the applicant might be affected by this
disqualification. The applicant must be allowed to take even if there are
charges filed and pending cases involving moral turpitude. If ever proven
later that indeed the applicant committed the crime, revocation of license
must be done and he would forever be disqualified to practice law.
Conversely, if it found later that he is not guilty of the crime, he should be
allowed to continue in the practice of law.
THE CONDUCT OF THE BAR EXAMINATION THAT NEEDS REFORMS
Section 11 of Rule 138 of the Rules of Court which states that
examinations for admission to the BAR of the Philippines shall take place
annually in the City of Manila must be amended. The conduct of the BAR
examination just like other examinations must be allowed to be held in
different regions to spare the examinees from too much expenses.
Section 10 of Rule 138 of the Rules of Court which states that upon
verified application made by an examinee stating that his penmanship is so
poor that it will be difficult to read his answers without much loss of time, the
Supreme Court may allow such examinee to use a typewriter in answering

the questions must also be amended. The conduct of the BAR examination
must cope up with time. After all, pleadings, memoranda, complaints,
affidavit and other documents prepared by the lawyers are neither
handwritten nor typewritten. They are already using computers. Computers
must be used in the conduct of examination to make it fair for those who
were not lucky to have been given the gift of good penmanship but more
than capable of becoming a good lawyer. However, to avoid any fraud or
cheating the Supreme Court being the in-charge of the conduct of said
examination must be the one to provide the computers. The computers must
be permanently installed in special rooms that will only be used for the
mentioned purpose. It should only contain one program that is especially
designed for the conduct of said examination. In other words, the program
installed should not contain any features such as spell checker, synonyms
and other similar features.
Another important area that needs to be reformed is section 14, Rule
138 of the Rules of Court which states that in order that a candidate may be
deemed to have passed his examinations successfully, he must have
obtained a general average of seventy-five percent (75%) in all subjects,
without falling below fifty percent (50%) in any subject. In determining the
average, the subjects in the examination shall be given the following relative
weights: Civil Law, fifteen percent (15%); Labor and Social Legislation, ten
percent (10%); Mercantile Law, fifteen percent (15%); Criminal Law, ten
percent (10%); Political and International Law, fifteen percent (15%);
Taxation, ten percent (10%); Remedial Law, twenty percent (20%); Legal
Ethics and Practical Exercises, five percent (5%).
The Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises shall have more than five
percent (5%) weight considering the significance of this area to the Legal
Profession. The higher the percentage is, the higher the chance that law
students would take it more seriously. As mentioned in the book Legal Ethics
by Ernesto L. Pineda, the practice of law which covers a wide range of
activities characteristic of the legal profession, including the pursuit and

defense

of

clients

rights

and

interests

before

the

courts,

will

be

transgressive, anarchic, riotous, lawbreaking, defiant and disobedient to

courts-if there are no sets of governing rules to limit the parameters and
tame the exercises of the profession.
Legal Ethics will guard against the abuses and ills of the profession
such as dishonesty, deceit, immorality, negligence, slothness, lack of
diligence and the many forms of malpractice of the members of the BAR. On
the positive side, it will raise the standard of the legal profession, encourage
and enhance the respect for the law, assure and effective and efficient
administration of justice, assist in keeping and maintenance of law and order
in coordination with the other Departments of the Government. It also
provides the basis for the weeding out of the unfit and the misfit in the legal
profession for the protection of the public. 3 Legal Ethics indeed is a very
important subject that deserves to have higher relative weight.
The seventy-five percent (75%) must be a fixed minimum rating that
should be considered as a passing rate. The Supreme Court must not lower it
to any rate just to accommodate more passers. It would be an unfair
practice. Lowering the passing rate would be favorable to those who passed
the BAR examination even if they got a rating that is two or three percent
lower than 75% but not favorable for those who flunked by just one percent
just because there was no such similar action. The more that it is not fair to
those who flunked several times in the BAR examination then all of a sudden
others passed it because the passing rate was lowered by three percent
(3%).
SOME

OF

THE

RULES

IN

THE

CODE

OF

PROFESSIONAL

RESPONSIBILITY THAT NEED TO BE REFORMED

Rule 14.03 Canon 14 (A lawyer shall not refuse his services to the
needy) of the Code of Professional Responsibility which states that a lawyer
may not refuse to accept representation of an indigent client unless: (a) he is
in no position to carry out the work effectively or competently; (b) he labors

under a conflict of interest between him and the prospective client must be
amended. An additional exception shall be included. The letter c exception
must be there are available lawyers of the government who could handle
the case. The additional exception will spare the lawyers from always
rendering free services. Indeed the practice of law is a profession not a
business. Legal aid is not a matter of charity, but a public responsibility. The
legal aid extended to the destitute is a matter of public responsibility.
However, like what was mentioned in Stansell vs. Roach, a lawyer like all
other human beings has a right to livelihood. Lawyers need also to buy food,
to have a good shelter, to buy clothes and whatnots. The government must
hire more lawyers for the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) in order to provide
assistance to all needy clients. In other way around the imposition of certain
hours of free service would be a better and fair way. In this instance, lawyers
would be required to serve at least two months of free service to needy
clients within a period of one year. But if he exceeds two months of free
service it would be credited as if it was done during the following years. For
example, in the year 2015 he rendered four months of free service. Then in
2016 he did not render free service. He would have the right to decline if the
court requested him to stand as counsel de officio of a needy client because
the excess two months for the past year 2015 will be considered to have
been served in 2016.
Rule 20.01, Canon 20 (A lawyer shall charge only fair and reasonable
fees) of the Code of Professional responsibility which states that a lawyer
shall be guided by the following factors in determining his fees: (a) the time
spent and the extent of the service rendered or required; (b) the novelty and
difficulty of the questions involved; (c) the importance of the subject matter;
(d) the skill demanded; (e) the probability of losing other employment as a
result of acceptance of the proffered case; (f) the customary charges for
similar services and the schedule of fees of the IBP chapter to which he
belongs; (g) the amount involved in the controversy and the benefits
resulting to the client from the service; (h) the contingency or certainty of

compensation; (i) the character of the employment, whether occasional or

established; and (j) the professional standing of the lawyer should be
amended. The determination of professional fees is not clear. Probably the
reason why it was written like it is in Rule 20.01 is because of the difficulty of
fixing the proper or just fee for a service of the lawyer in a particular case.
Cases are of different shapes and sizes so to speak that is why it is hard to
determine. However, it can be done in manner that it would appear to be a
little bit apparent to the clients and also to the lawyer. The best way probably
is to make some kind of bracketing of fees like if the case would not last
more than 10 years the acceptance fee is P 20,000.00-P 50,000.00. In this
way the bar and the people are well guided as to how much would be the
service of a lawyer. Lawyers would have a definite basis of how to avoid
violating Rule 2.04, Canon 2 (A lawyer shall make his legal services available
in an efficient and convenient manner compatible with the independence,
integrity and effectiveness of the profession) of the Code of Professional
Responsibility which states that a lawyer shall not charge rates lower than
those customarily prescribed unless the circumstances so warrant. In the
first place how can a lawyer determine if he is already charging rates lower
than those customarily prescribed if there is no such certain rates prescribed.
The change would most likely fix the problem.

CONCLUSIONS
It can be noted in the above discussion that there are still a lot to
reform in the legal profession. Lawyers and lawyers to-be must be protected
also by the laws governing the legal profession. They should not be treated
as if they are so powerful and they dont anymore need the protection of law.
They are like plants that cannot bear fruit without the sun.

NOTES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_profession

Rolando A. Suarez, Introduction To Law.(Manila:Rex Printing Company,

Inc. 2013)
3

Ernesto L. Pineda Legal and Judicial Ethics (Quezon Avenue, Quezon

City: Central Professional Books, Inc. 1999)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pineda, Ernesto L. Legal and Judicial Ethics Quezon Avenue, Quezon City:
Central Professional Books, Inc. 1999
Bautista, Andres D. and Quiogue, Marie Antonette B. BAR Review Companion
Ethics Law Mandaluyong City: Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2014

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_profession
Suarez, Rolando A., Introduction To Law . Manila: Rex Printing Company, Inc.
2013