CHAVEZ, Hans Christian Romulo B.

2020400204
Practice Court 1 – 4C

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE

REVISED LAW STUDENT PRACTICE RULE
A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC Rule 138-A Law Student Practice, otherwise known as the
Revised Law Student Practice Rule, was adopted and promulgated by the Supreme
Court of the Philippines en banc on June 25, 2019. The amendment revises the existing
provisions of Rule 138-A of the Rules of Court.
The most salient feature of the amendment is the requirement for law students to be
certified under the Clinical Legal Education Program of his/her law school before they
are allowed to a limited practice of law such as [a] Appearances; [b] Drafting and
submission of pleadings and documents before trial and appellate courts and quasi-
judicial and administrative bodies; [c] Assistance in mediation, legal counselling and
advice; and [d] Others mentioned under Section 1.
Furthermore, a very important feature is that second year students are now covered by
the Rule on Law Student Practice. Section 3 of the Revised Rule provides that a law
student shall apply for and secure a Level 1 or 2 Certification, as the case may be, in
order to be permitted to engage in any of the activities under the Clinical Legal
Education Program of a law school. Level 1 Certification means that a law student has
finished first-year law courses, while for Level 2 Certification, third-year law courses.
The duties of law student practitioners (section 6), law schools (section 9), and
supervising lawyers (section 11) are also laid down. It is also noteworthy that the Rule
provides that the supervising lawyer must always be personally present with the law
student-practitioner.
Section 13 enumerates acts considered as unauthorized practice of law as well as the
corresponding sanctions, without prejudice to existing laws, rules, regulations, and
circulars. It emphasizes that unauthorized practice of law shall be a ground for
revocation of the law student practitioner’s certification and/or disqualification for a law
student from taking the bar examinations for a period to be determined by the Supreme
Court.
The Revised Law Student Practice Rule is now taking effect at the start of school year
2020-2021.
The Supreme Court, in coming up with this amendment, has addressed the need for the
enhancement of legal education for law students and more especially for equal access to
justice for the underprivileged, by virtue of its rule making power under Section 5(5),
Article 8 of the Philippine Constitution.