Jana Martina P.

Alameda Reflection Paper

Block 1D November 14, 2022

Learning the Practice of Law from the Perspective of a Lawyer

Growing up, I was surrounded by family members and relatives who were lawyers and
judges. Even when I was young, I knew about legal practice and what fields you can enter once
you become a lawyer. Having a family full of lawyers and judges was, and I knew it would
someday be my purpose. My dream of being a lawyer intensified when I saw my eldest sister's
journey in law school. Ever since I could remember, my sister has been the person I admire most.
Everything she does, I also dreamt of doing as well.

When she went to Ateneo Law School, I saw her struggles, challenges, and triumphs. She
made sure that no matter what life threw at her, she would fight for the dream of becoming a
lawyer at the end of the day. There are no words to describe how challenging her law school
journey was, but what I have seen in her inspired me to become a lawyer. I'm very fortunate that
I have a sister who went to the same law school as me because she never fails to give me
guidance and advice, especially in helping me study smart in law school. Hence, going to law
school is very important because it means that I get to achieve my lifelong dream and,
simultaneously make my sister proud and continue the legacy that she has partaken in the
University.

Now that she has been a lawyer for five years, I have witnessed her journey in legal
practice, and she continues to inspire the people around her in everything she does. Moreover, in
the work she's doing right now, it is seen that she is very passionate about legal practice, and it is
everything she has dreamed of since she was in law school. Hence, I interviewed my sister, Atty.
Joy Alameda about her work, conflict of interest and ethical challenge that she has experienced
in her workplace, and challenges that lawyers face now. She graduated from Ateneo Law School
in 2015 and passed the Bar Exam in 2017, and she has been practicing law for five years now.

She works at Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, and at first, she was a special assistant
to the administrator and C.E.O. The job entails any assignment that pertains to the legal functions
of CEZA. After a year, she was then appointed as the Corporate Board Secretary. CEZA is a
government owned and controlled corporation. Even if it's a government agency, it also functions
as a corporation. When you say a corporation, there are officers, and she is an officer in her
position. In her position, it requires legal and corporate knowledge. She is the one who
documents all things and actions that the board of directors has decided; hence it is imperative to
document everything. Moreover, there are also notices, the conduct of meetings, documentation
of meetings, resolution, and signing of all resolutions; these are all the responsibilities and duties
of a corporate board secretary. The most important part of her job is to take note of the
corporation's actions because it will be essential to their implementation, from the funding to the
project to the execution of the projects, and even how you manage the corporation, such as the
sustainability and development. These are all the things discussed in the meetings, so the
corporate board secretary must document all of these things. She also stated that it is not required
for a lawyer to occupy that position; however, more often than not, they still get lawyers for that
position. This is because lawyers are used to compliance work, record-keeping, contracts, and
minutes drafting. Hence, it is better when a lawyer occupies the position of corporate board
secretary. Besides her duty of documenting everything, the board also goes to her for legal
advice or legal direction. Sometimes during the meeting, there are impromptu settings where the
board of directors asks her if they are in the right direction, such as if they are laws that they are
violating.

For the conflict of interest, she shared with me that when you work in the government,
the instances of having a conflict of interest are always minimized. The reason for this is that
they have a Code of Professional Responsibility which is under the Civil Service that they must
follow. However, she also explained different scenarios where she could experience a conflict of
interest:
1. She could push the board to approve the projects in a way that sways them. She said she
does not have this power but could suggest it.
2. She could recommend a contractor for one of their projects, but that contractor is owned
by her friend, and that friend will pay her. Hence, this could be a conflict of interest
because you already have a personal interest in the project, and at the same time, you are
 holding a position that is imbued with trust that you must not break. You are there to
make sure that the public funds are used correctly.
3. Contractors may want to apply in CEZA; when this happens, there are certain benefits
and privileges. These contractors could ask her, “Atty, baka pwede naman ayusin niyo po
papel namin tas bayaran po namin kayo”. This is not allowed because she is the
gatekeeper of CEZA and must ascertain that everything is compliant and the company's
requirements were all submitted.
Hence, these are examples of conflicts of interest that could happen in her position in CEZA.
However, since there is the Code of Professional Responsibility limits the employees from
having a conflict of interest because it warns them of possible sanctions and penalties once they
get involved. There could also be a case against you in the Sandiganbayan or Ombudsman. You
are in the position of imbued public trust; people trust you to do your job well and without these
kinds of conflicts of interest.

She also shared with me that these are the same examples where she experienced an
ethical challenge in her workplace. She explained to me there were so many ethical challenges
she has experienced, but the three examples above are the most evident in her everyday work.
She has explained to me that whatever legal field you enter, you will always meet individuals
who attempt to put you in a position where you will be tempted. Despite that, we must remember
that, as lawyers, we are imbued with public trust. Hence, we should never forget to be honest in
our legal profession and never stray away from what we are called to do. This is the most
significant thing I have learned from my sister because she really made me understand that when
you have the title of being a lawyer, it comes with the privilege and, most especially, a big
responsibility that you must carry into your heart wherever you may go. She shared with me that
once you have entered into the legal profession, you must always remember that people view
lawyers as someone who could help them obtain justice; hence we must never break the trust that
they have instilled in us. The moment that you have taken your lawyer’s oath, from that day
forward, you have already promised the people that you will help in the future to never break
their trust and continue to uphold the essence of being a lawyer. And this is what my sister aims
to continue working for CEZA; no matter how many times people ask her things that would
jeopardize her reputation and career, she always stays firm and determined to follow the law at
all times.

In the last part of the interview with my sister, I also asked her about the challenges that
lawyers face nowadays. She explained that one of the challenges was when many bar takers
passed the bar exam last year because the lawyers were competing with other lawyers to have a
job. Moreover, other lawyers do not have a proper job and are not compensated well. Compared
to other countries, lawyers in the Philippines have a lower salary. So, they are very susceptible to
getting another job because their salaries are not enough, and they are also susceptible to
temptation. In the government, lawyers receive higher salaries; however, if their agency has
systemic corruption, they will also be tempted. Hence, there is also a moral crisis, mainly when
they are not compensated well. Second, there needs to be more training in the Philippines. If you
want training, you must spend a lot of money. Different from other jurisdictions or other
countries, even though we have MCLE in the Philippines, it is less excellent than the training
from other countries. They get to specialize in training from other countries, and then their
company or law firm can pay for your added training. Hence, they invest in you; however, this
country has few study grants and scholarships. And only a few companies or law firms are
willing to invest in their lawyers. My sister also shared that since she is now studying for her
Master of Laws Program, also known as L.L.M., she needed to strategize independently because
there are not many programs. And when you go back to the Philippines, it is hard to apply the
knowledge you have acquired from your L.L.M. Program. Third, the legal practice in the
Philippines could be more advanced. For example, a small number of law firms get to do special
projects involving international transactions, and only big law firms can do this. Most of the
time, these big law firms are hired by international clients because they are known. Hence, the
lawyers in big law firms are very fortunate because they get to handle international cases that
cannot be experienced by ordinary lawyers only. In other instances, some lawyers could go to
London and represent arbitration laws. However, these opportunities are only given to some
lawyers. Hence, the legal practice in the Philippines has yet to be exposed, and there is not much
training. The opportunities for lawyers in this country are very scarce to do advanced training.
The last challenge she shared with me is that no one is giving alternatives to legal practice. For
her, being a lawyer does not just stop in litigation; there are so many practices, such as
corporation and compliance work. Moreover, in other countries, there are conventions and
seminars where lawyers can learn different practices they could enter into; however, in our
country, we still lack those conventions.

Throughout the interview with my sister, I already had sufficient knowledge of her work
because she always shares her experiences and learnings, especially since she knows I will be
entering legal practice someday. However, the most important thing I have acquired from this
interview is more in-depth knowledge of the challenges of lawyers. Growing up, I have always
glamorized the career of lawyers from the shows I have watched, such as Suits and How to Get
Away with Murder. From everything I have learned in this interview, I have realized that many
lawyers are struggling, and I could not understand this before. Hence, the challenges that my
sister has shared with me are still happening today, and I can very hope that when the time comes
when I become a lawyer, these challenges will be minimized and will be provided with solutions
so that all lawyers in this country would be aided and guided. Moreover, this requirement has
allowed me to get to know the legal profession from my sister's experiences, and I'm very
grateful that I have learned a lot.