Effectively Responding to Prompts A. Kinds of Legal Questions Legal Writing as well as Oral Advocacy are the means, answering a Legal Question is the end. Answering a Legal Question through Legal Writing may come in various forms. It may be a brief or pleading used to persuade a court, a letter clarifying information to a client, or a memorandum proposing a course of action to the President of the Philippines. But we must disabuse ourselves from thinking that Legal Writing, as a task, happens only in those instances. An essay answer in a bar examination or even in a midterm examination is Legal Writing. In other words, Legal Writing is simply responding to prompts (or questions), albeit legal in nature. Before we discuss how to effectively respond to prompts, we have to distinguish between two kinds of Legal Questions. In Tifia v. Sta. Clara Estate, Inc.,' the Supreme Court explained that a “question of law arises when there is doubt as to what the law is on a certain state of facts, while there is a question of fact when the doubt arises as to the truth or falsity of the alleged facts. For a question to be one of law, its resolution must not involve an examination of the probative value of the evidence presented by the litigants but must rely solely on what the law provides on the given set of facts. If the facts are disputed or if the issues require an examination of the evidence, the question posed is one of fact.” Clearly, what matters is not the designation given to a question, but whether a court “can resolve the issue without examining or evaluating the evidence, in which case, it is a question of law; otherwise, it is a question of fact.”* For the purposes of this chapter, we will limit our discussion to questions of law in the form of law school or bar examination. 1G.R. No. 239979 (17 February 2020). Id.6 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING B. Responding to Legal Questions In answering Legal Questions, many law students fall into thig trap: spending too much time understanding the law and reviewing for the same. You may have heard incoming bar examination takers often ask about how many “rounds” of reading they should undertake. So, too, among law students whose concept of study is exclusively retaining knowledge of all the laws there are. But, Legal Questions, especially in bar examination, “tend to require only a fairly surface-level analysis, as compared with traditional law school essay exams. Generally, however, bar exam essay questions do test issue spotting, rule knowledge, and fact application. Although such questions may not fully replicate all of a doctrinal professor’s learning objectives for her students, as long as bar exam questions mirror at least part of what she expects from them, the use of bar exam-type questions for formative assessment is productive, both for mastering the material in that given course and for preparing for the bar exam.”* Thus, contrary to what many believe, responding to Legal involves three (3) practical skills: (a) knowledge Questions and (©) acquisition and retention, (b) spotting issues, structuring answers. Although knowing the correct answer is important— thus, the necessity for students to determine the appropriate learning strategy—identifying the question correctly, as well as communicating answers clearly are equally vital. An answer will only be deemed correct if it corresponds to the question. And it will only be appreciated in full if the same is well-developed and delivered clearly and concisely. Absent these, that answer is only a presentation of your knowledge of the law. It may be an accurate and coherent restatement of law as it relates to some facts, but it is not the answer your professor or examiner is looking for. Accurately spotting issues is, therefore, essential. Before we move on, we put the following disclaimers: 1. The first practical skill will not be discussed. Thus, skills or suggested guidelines on note-taking, outlining, and crafting study schedules will be excluded. *Emmeline Paulette Reeves, Teaching to the Test: The Incor} tie anes of Bar Exam Preparation in Legal Education, 64 J. LEGAL Hote Gan, eenII — Effectively Responding to Prompts 1 2. Issues regarding fitness of some students or bar examination takers to satisfy the academic demands of the study of law or pass the bar examination will likewise not be discussed. 8. Each professor or bar examiner may have varying preferences on how an answer should be properly structured. 1. Spotting Legal Issues Accurately Legal education attempts to simulate law practice. That is why the modified Socratic-Langdellian is found to be the prevalent teaching strategy among Filipino law schools. While limited to the traditional notion of law practice,‘ “[i]t is through this method that the proverbial thinking like lawyers is realized.”* This is true as well in the kind of questions commonly asked in the bar examinations (and even in law school). For instance, you will seldom encounter a client who will ask a lawyer: “Attorney, is the contract of commodatum I entered into valid, void, or voidable?” Usually, a client will share everything in his or her mind, leaving to the lawyer the task to sift through all those pieces of information before giving a sound advice. For example: “Last year, I bought this Giant mountain bicycle and bike around Antipolo every Saturday morning. I got it from that store along Macapagal Avenue for P100,000. Two months ago, my friend approached me to borrow the same for two weeks. In turn, he will pay me P5,000. He returned the bike but did not pay me as promised. Can I demand the amount from him, Attorney?” This is the reason why issue spotting skill is crucial. Law students “must learn, within the context of hypothetical fact ‘Lisa Penland, The Hypothetical Lawyer: Warrior, Wiseman, or Hybrid?, 6 Appalachian J. L. 78 (2006), cited in Justin Sucgang, Tipping Point: Will This Pandemic Mainstream Online Learning in Philippine Legal Education?, 93 (Special Online Feature) PHIL. L.J. 183 (2020) (hereinafter, “Sucgang, Tipping Point”): “The design behind it is the simulation of an adversarial court proceeding wherein the professor takes the role of a judge, while the student being asked (or grilled) takes the role of a counsel. ‘Sucgang, Tipping Point, supra at 192.8 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO. LEGAL WRITING scenarios and problems, how to distill the relevant facts and discern the relevant legal issues. x x x [They] must hone in on the applicable statutory and/or common law. [They] must be able to apply the law to the facts to reach the correct conclusion and articulate the reasoning to support their conclusion.”* A law student (or even a lawyer) can always give an answer. But without spotting the issue or the correct issue, that given may not always be the answer to the question asked. In this section, we will discuss the steps or techniques to correctly spot issues. Using content analysis of previous bar examination questions, we submit that law students should possess the skills: 1. Recognize significant words or phrases, 2. Identify legal concepts and legal issues related thereto, Read the question carefully, and Filter the pertinent facts based on the question asked. a. Recognize Significant Word or Phrases The first strategy to spot issues is to identify significant words or phrases. These are words or phrases that may serve as guideposts in unlocking the issue of the Legal Question. The most obvious are the words that are repeated in a question. Thus, it is wise to take note of the frequency of word usage through a cursory reading of the prompt. Those directly used by statutory law or employed in case law may also be significant. Here, you could already see how important is the first practical skill in effectively responding to prompts. If you do not have sufficient knowledge of the law, then you will miss these _ words. Lastly, significant also are those words or phrases that point to various factors that may have legal implication, such as, but not limited to: (i) parties, their character and relationship; *Emmeline Paulette Reeves, Teaching to the Test: The Incorporation of Elements of Bar Ezam Preparation in Legal Education, 64 J. Legal Educ. 645, 649 (2015).Il - Effectively Responding to Prompts 9 Gi) time, which may indicate the prevailing law or the element of the law pertinent to the issue; (iii) place, which may denote a covered jurisdiction; (iv) act, which may lead to a rule violated or complied with; and (v) adjective or adverb, the qualification provided by which unto a noun or verb may suggest the applicability of a rule. Let us use this 2015 Bar Examination Question II in Civil Law: “Marco and Gina were married in 1989. Ten years later, or in 1999, Gina left Marco and lived with another man, leaving their two children of school age with Marco. When Marco needed money for their children’s education, he sold a parcel of land registered in his name, without Gina’s consent, which he purchased before his marriage. Is the sale by Marco valid, void, or voidable? Explain with legal basis. (4%)” Based on the criteria, the following words or phrases may be considered significant: (a) married, (b) 1989, (c) 1999, (d) left, (e) lived with another man, (f) leaving their children, (g) two children, (h) children of school age, (i) sold a parcel of land, (j) registered in his name, (k) without consent, (1) purchased, and (m) before marriage. When new to this strategy, we suggest that you physically rewrite these words or phrases on the margin of the questionnaire. But as you master it, you may be able to do so by mentally itemizing them. This is important because of the next step. b. Identify Related Legal Concepts and Issues As in the first strategy, adequate legal knowledge is likewise important here. For example, in Persons and Family Relations, if there is a mention of age of majority, the question may point to issues about elements of a valid marriage, specifically consent. This phrase may lead to issues on criminal liability (particularly exempting circumstances) and voting in Criminal Law I and Constitutional Law I, respectively. When talking about consent, you may already think about the rule on parental consent or advice, which may lead to issues on void or voidable marriages. It may also lead to questions about support or adoption, among others.10 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING The following are the related legal concepts and issues baseg on the significant words identified above: | Significant Word _or Phrase “married in 1989” Related Legal Concepts or Issues | This points to governing law or effectivity of Family Code. Thus, you should know the distinctions between marriage laws under the Family Code and Civil Code. This points to prescriptive period in case of 1999 defective marriage. This points to abandonment, which may “left” lead to issues on defective marriage, parental custody, and property relations. “lived with another man” This points to adultery, which may lead to issues on defective marriage, parental custody, and property relations. “leaving their two children” This points to child custody issues, and corollarily, efficacy of maternal preference. “children of school age” This points to child custody issues, and corollarily, efficacy of maternal preference. “sold a parcel of land” This points to property relations. “registered in his name, without Gina’s consent” This points to property relations and unilateral dispositions. “he purchased before his marriage” This points to property relations, issues on capital or paraphernal properties, and composition of conjugal or absolute properties. c. Read the Question Carefully As shown in the table, by listing significant words ang identifying the related legal concepts, a bar examination question may involve a number of issues. And this is not unique to Legal Questions found in bar examinations. Recall the first time you read a Supreme Court decision. You might have probably been confused by the number of legal principles and concepts it tackled or legal issues it resolved.Il — Effectively Responding to Prompts u Take for example the famous case of Oposa et al. v. Factoran, dr.’ There, [plaintiffs . . . filed the instant special civil action for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Revised Rules of Court and ask this Court to rescind and set aside the dismissal order on the ground that the respondent Judge gravely abused his discretion in dismissing the action.”* Whether or not the regional trial court judge committed a grave abuse of discretion, necessitating the remedy under Rule 65 is certainly an issue. And so are the following: 1. Whether or not “the complaint clearly and unmistakably states a cause of action as it contains sufficient allegations concerning their right to a sound environment based on Articles 19, 20, and 21 of the Civil Code (Human Relations), Section 4 of Executive Order (E.O.) No. 192 creating the DENR, Section 3 of Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1151 (@hilippine Environmental Policy), Section 16, Article II of the 1987 Constitution, recognizing the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology, the concept of generational genocide in Criminal Law, and the concept of man’s inalienable right to self-preservation and self- perpetuation embodied in natural law”;® 2. Whether or not the issuance by the respondent Secretary of Timber License Agreements covering more areas for logging than what is available constitutes grave abuse of discretion, and thus, involving a judicial question; and 3. Whether or not the invocation by the respondent judge of the Constitution’s non-impairment clause, an argument not raised by the respondent Secretary, is applicable in the case. How then would you filter out the issue? First, master the different kinds of issues. You need to distinguish between avoidable issues and unavoidable issues. Unavoidable issues, those that affect the outcome of the case, may be further classified as jugular, main, or side (or subordinate) issue.” A jugular issue is the Achilles’ heel, often procedural in nature, while its resolution will 1G.R. No. 101083 (30 July 1993). *Id. °Id. ‘Hugo Gutierrez, Writing of Decisions and Resolutions, 4 The Philja Judicial Journal 97, 106 (October-December 2002).12 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING result in non-consideration of the case. Unavoidable main issue is that when resolved settles ultimately the Legal Question, while an unavoidable side issue is that upon which the main issue may depend. Let us use Chi Ming Tsoi v. Court of Appeals et al. to illustrate the various kinds of issue. So many allegations have been raised in this famous case, to wit: i. 10. That the respondent observed the plaintiff to be using an eyebrow pencil and sometimes the cleansing cream of his mother; That the respondent did not show his penis to her; That during their honeymoon, they went to Baguio City, but he invited to come stay with them his mother, an uncle, and his nephew; That there was no sexual intercourse between them, since the defendant avoided her by taking a long walk during siesta time or by just sleeping on a rocking chair located in the living room; That plaintiff is a closet homosexual; That he loves her very much; That since the relationship is still very young and if there are any differences between the two of them, these can still be reconciled; That, according to him, if either one of them has some incapacities, there is no certainty that this will not be cured; That since their marriage on 22 May 1988 until their separation on 15 March 1989, there was no sexual contact between them; That it was found out that from the original size of two (2) inches, or five (5) centimeters, his penis lengthened by one (1) inch and one centimeter, and that the doctor said that he had only a soft erection which is why his penis is not in its full length. But, still is capable of further erection, 11G.R. No. 119190 (16 January 1997).Il — Effectively Responding to Prompts 13 in that with his soft erection, the defendant is capable of having sexual intercourse with a woman; 11. That there was no collusion between them; 12. That the alleged refusal of both the petitioner and the private respondent to have sex with each other constitutes psychological incapacity of both; 13. That he wanted to have sex with her, but she refused; and this refusal may not be psychological but physical disorder; and 14. That the marriage between the plaintiff and defendant is void. Obviously, Items 12 and 14 are the unavoidable main issues. Item 9 is an unavoidable side issue to Item 12. While Items 5 and 13 may be considered main issues, they are avoidable for being irrelevant to the resolution of the case. Remember, the case is about a purported void marriage. Homosexuality, specifically its concealment, under Art. 46(4) and impotence under Art. 45(5) of the Family Code are grounds for annulment of marriage. Totally immaterial to the case, Items 6-7 are likewise avoidable. Items 1—4 and Items 8 and 10 are side issues to Item 5 and Item 13, respectively. Finally, Item 11 is an avoidable issue, although it may be considered a jugular issue had the case been about a voidable marriage. Second, look at the subject where this case is asked, and then read the question carefully. Together, this will lead to better identification of the unavoidable main issue. To better explain this, consider a common mistake during recitation. Many law students unnecessarily spend so much time reading the entirety of the case and, to their dismay, find the professor discussing the case briefly. Yes, they read the case. Much better, in the original. But they failed to connect the discussion to the topic under which the case is listed in the syllabus. And when they start discussing the case before the class, the professor would impatiently grill them—jumping from one concept to another. Worse, law students quickly give a response according to what they think the case is all about but not according to the question asked by the professor. The functional equivalent of the above in bar or law school examinations is when law students become unresponsive to the question. They answer based on what they think the question is, especially since after undertaking the first two steps, they may have already in their minds several legal concepts and principles. Their reading of the Legal Question may14 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING lead them to avoidable issues or more unfortunately, to a totally inexistent issue. That is why issue spotting coupled with careful reading of the question is essential. Some questions are easier to appreciate, as when it is couched in a direct manner. Examples of which are questions, such as “is the marriage void?” or “is the Revised Penal Code applicable?”. However, other questions demand more time to decipher like “decide” or “if you were the judge in this case, how would you settle the issue?” The latter questions call for the mastery of the issue-spotting skill. In the example above, it appears that the question is directly couched. As it asks about the validity of the sale by Marco, the issue revolves around property relations of the spouse. Nonetheless, note that some questions, while appearing to be open-ended may actually be directly couched. A predicate argument may be given challenging a private act, governmental action, or statutory law. The resulting dispute becomes, more often than not, the issue of the Legal Question. For instance, in the 2016 Bar Examination Question XV in Political Law: Congress passed a bill appropriating Pl00-billion. Part of the money is to be used for the purchase of a 200-hectare property in Antipolo. The rest shall be spent for the development of the area and the construction of the Universal Temple for All the World’s Faiths (UTAW-F). When completed, the site will be open, free of charge, to all religions, beliefs, and faiths, where each devotee or believer shall be accommodated and treated in a fair and equal manner, without distinction, favor, or prejudice. There will also be individual segments or zones in the area which can be used for the conduct of whatever rituals, services, sacraments, or ceremonials that may be required by the customs or practices of each particular religion. The President approved the bill, happy in the thought that this could start the healing process of our wounded country and encourage people of varied and often conflicting faiths to live together in harmony and in peace. If the law is questioned on the ground that it violates Sec. 5, Article IT of the Constitution that “no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” how will you resolve the challenge? Explain. (5%)Il — Effectively Responding to Prompts 16 The actual question asked was: “how will you resolve the challenge?’ But the predicate of it is “If the law is questioned on the ground that it violates Sec. 5, Article III of the Constitution that ‘no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof x x x’? Obviously, reading the question carefully is highly important. d. Filter the Pertinent Facts Based on the Question Asked One can now employ the facts mentioned as these relate to the issue raised. Notice that there may be a huge chunk of facts that you need to disregard as a result. To illustrate, in the 2016 Bar Examination Question XV in Political Law: Congress passed a bill appropriating P100-billion. Part of the money is to be used for the purchase of a 200-hectare property in Antipolo. The rest shall be spent for the development of the area and the construction of the Universal Temple for All the World’s Faiths (UTAW-F). When completed, the site will be open, free of charge, to all religions, beliefs, and faiths, where each devotee or believer shall be accommodated and treated in a fair and equal manner, without distinction, favor, or prejudice. There will also be individual segments or zones in the area which can be used for the conduct of whatever rituals, services, sacraments, or ceremonials that may be required by the customs or practices of each particular religion. The President approved the bill, happy in the thought that this could start the healing process of our wounded country and encourage people of varied and often conflicting faiths to live together in harmony and in peace. If the law is questioned on the ground that it violates Sec. 5, Article II of the Constitution that “no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” how will you resolve the challenge? Explain. (5%)16 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING Let us try to identify the issue of this question. Applying the first and second techniques, the following are our proposed significant words and the related legal concepts and issues: “Bill appropriating P100-billion” “part of the money used to buy land in Antipolo; the rest for development and construction of a religious temple” “motive of approval is to start the healing process of our wounded country” Related Legal Concepts or Issues It may point to Secs. 24-25, Art. VI of the 1987 Constitution, which provide for the process of bills involving appropriation of money. It may point to Sec. 5, Art. III of the 1987 Constitution, which provides for the Non- Establishment Clause. It may point to Sec. 29(2), Art. VI of the 1987 Constitution, which limits the purpose of appropriation. Since the question is direct, you may now discard other facts (@ie., those involving procedural laws on enacting an appropriation law). The issue calls for the application of the Non-Establishment Clause. Let us use another example where the question is open-ended. In the 2016 Bar Examination Question XIX on Civil Law, it was asked: fn 1995,] Brad and Angelina had a secret marriage before a pastor whose office is located in Arroceros Street, City of Manila. They paid money to the pastor who took care of all the documentation. When Angelina wanted to go to the U.S., she found out that there was no marriage license issued to them before their marriage. xx x Angelina filed a petition for judicial declaration of nullity on the strength of a certification by the Civil Registrar of Manila that, after a diligent and exhaustive search, the alleged marriage license indicated in the marriage certificate does not appear in the records and cannot be found.Il - Effectively Responding to Prompts 17 fa] Decide the case and explain. (2.5%) x x x (some words omitted for purposes of illustration) Applying the first and second techniques, the following are our proposed significant words and the related legal concepts and issues: Under our laws, there is no such thing as secret marriage. “secret marriage” “pastor whose office is located in Arroceros Street, City of Manila”; “pastor who took care of It may point to a conclusion that he may be a solemnizing officer without authority (see Tenchavez v. Escano"), and absence of requisites of marriage leads to a void all the documentation” marriage, as per Art. 4 of the Family Code. “no marriage license” Absence of requisites of marriage leads to void marriage, as per Art. 4 of the Family Code. “after a diligent and exhaustive search, the alleged marriage license indicated in the marriage certificate does not appear in the records and cannot be found” As per Republic v. Court of Appeals and Castro," a certificate of diligent search and inability to find is sufficient to prove that no license was issued. Since the question (i.e., “Decide the case and explain”) is not direct, issue spotting is extremely important; unlike in the previous example (i.e., “Is the sale by Marco valid, void, or voidable?”). Here, the order for you is to decide the case. And this case refers to that “x x x filed a petition for judicial declaration of nullity on the strength of acertification by the Civil Registrar of Manila that, after a diligent and exhaustive search, the alleged marriage license indicated in the marriage certificate does not appear in the records and cannot be found.” Thus, we can discard the facts surrounding the secret marriage or those involving the solemnizing officer. 12G.R. No. L-19671 (29 November 1965). 13G.R. No. 103047 (2 September 1994).A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO i e LEGAL WRITING Clearly from the discussion, spotting issues is first and foremost a function of how much you know about and understand the law. Otherwise, the foregoing exercise of mentally listing or rewriting words may be a useless or time-consuming undertaking. Similarly, lack of basic legal knowledge will lead to problems in identifying legal issues related to legal concepts. One final note: The steps may be interchanged. It depends upon your mastery of the law, mastery of the techniques, or even the structure of the question. As in the latter, when after cursory reading, the question appears to be direct and clear, you may simply work backward instead of inductively. Our purpose of laying them down is not to prescribe the order of their application, but to show you what are the techniques that you need to master in order to correctly spot the issue in a given prompt. 2. Structuring Your Answers Efficiently Content analysis was conducted on the structure of suggested answers to the bar examination questions. Unless otherwise stated, we refer to suggested answers by the University of the Philippines Law Complex. The accuracy of the answer is immaterial for purposes of this section. Only the form is scrutinized. The following comprise the structure of an effective answer: 1. Direct answer to the question 2. Restatement of the applicable legal rule 8. Application of legal rule to pertinent facts 4, Clarification of other related facts We will separately discuss each part in general. A more purposive and in-depth discussion will be presented in Chapter IV of this book. Let us use the suggested answers to the questions we used as examples in the previous section. The table on the next page presents the suggested answer in toto.Il - Effectively Responding to Prompts 19 2015 Bar Examination Civil _ Question I The sale is void. The marriage was celebrated during the effectivity of the Family Code. In the absence of a marriage settlement, the property relations between the spouses is governed by absolute community of property, whereby all the properties owned by the spouses at the time of the celebration. of the marriage, as well as whatever they may acquire during the marriage, shall form part of the community property, as a rule (Art. 91, Family Code). The parcel of land sold is part of the community property as Marco owned it before the marriage. In an absolute community of property regime, the administration and enjoyment shall belong to both spouses jointly (Art. 96, Family Code). Neither spouse may dispose or encumber common properties without the authority Suggested Answer: The contention must be rejected. The use of the site temple will not be limited [to] a particular religious sect. It will be made available to all religious sects. The temporary use of public property for religious purposes without discrimination does not violate the Constitution (Ignacio v, De la Cruz, G.R. No. L-6858; People v. Fernandez, 40 O.G. 1089). J will grant the petition for judicial declaration of nullity of Brad and Angelina’s marriage on the ground that there is a lack of marriage license. Article 3 of the Family Code provides that one of the formal requisites of marriage is a valid marriage license and Article 4 of the same Code states that absence of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio. In Abbas v. Abbas (G.R. No. 183896), the Supreme Court declared the marriage as void ab initio because there is proof of lack of record of marriage license. The Certification by the Civil Registrar of Manila that, after a diligent and exhaustive search, the alleged marriage license indicated in the marriage certificate does not appear in the records and cannot be found proves that the marriage of Brad20 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING of the court or the written consent of the other spouse, and in the absence of such authority or consent, the disposition or encumbrance shall be void (Art. 96, Family Code). Despite separation de facto for more than 10 years, Gina remains Marco's spouse, and her consent is still required for the sale to be valid. Since Marco sold the lot without Gina’s consent, the sale is void. Alternative Answer: The contention is meritorious. The state cannot pass laws which aid one religion, all religions, or prefer one religion over another (Emerson v, Board of Education, 330 U.S.A. 1). and Angelina was solemnized without the requisite marriage license and is therefore void ab initio. The absence of the marriage license was certified to by the local civil registrar who is the official custodian of these documents and who is in the best position to certify as to the existence of these records. Also, there is a presumption of regularity in the performance of official duty (Republic v. CA and Castro, G.R. No. 103047). a. Direct Answer to the Question An answer is direct if it perfectly dovetails with the question. By reading aloud a question quickly followed by the answer, one can easily determine whether the answer is direct or not. To have a clearer picture on this, we present the question side-by-side with the suggested answer:II - Effectively Responding to Prompts 21 | Bar Examination Question Is the sale by Marco valid, void, or 5 acernit voidable? Explain with legal basis. | The sale is void. If the law is questioned on the | Suggested Answer: The contention ground that it violates Sec. 5, | must be rejected. Article II] of the Constitution that “no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” how will you resolve the challenge? Explain. Alternative Answer: The contention is meritorious. I will grant the petition for judicial declaration of nullity of Brad and Decide the case and explain. Angelina’s marriage on the ground that there is a lack of marriage license. Visually, the answer corresponds to the question. This is precisely what we meant when we discussed being “responsive” to the question. The first two questions are directly couched. Simply put, the first asks about the status of the contract, and the second calls for your assessment of the legal argument. The answers are direct. Both give a point-blank reply: that the sale is void and that the contention must be rejected. Why is giving a direct answer important? Before we answer this question, consider this first. A total of 7,685 actually took the 2019 Bar Examination. Meanwhile, 8,158, 6,748, 6,344, and 6,605 took the 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015 Bar Examinations, respectively. The 5-year average number of takers is 7,108. Only the 2019 Bar Examination employed two bar examiners per subject. If the average number of bar examination questions and sub-questions is 20, and assuming that bar examiners will treat the checking the booklet as a full-time job (i.e., 40 hours a week), that means that they will only spend around five to six minutes per exam booklet. This translates to around 30—45 seconds per question. Thus, the first few seconds are crucial. A good impression must be established outright. Giving a direct answer is important because firstly, it gives a message to the checker that you understand the question and have a clear grasp of the issue. Secondly, which is an offshoot of the first22 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING reason, it displays your confidence. Compare this to long-winded and directionless answers, with a circuitous presentation of facts and law. Visually, it muddies your answer. Practically, you force the checker to read the entirety of your answer in order to have a grasp of what you are actually saying. Remember that the bar examiners or law professors do not always have the luxury of time to read and decipher what your answer is. b. Restatement of the Applicable Legal Rule Examine the table below, particularly the emphasized portion: [llBar Examination Question) | Suagested Answer a] The sale is void. The marriage was celebrated during the effectivity of the Family Code. In the absence ofa marriage settlement, the property relations between the spouses is governed by Is the sale by Marco valid, void, | absolute community of property, or voidable? Explain with legal | whereby all the properties basis. owned by the spouses at the time of the celebration of the marriage, as well as whatever they may acquire during the marriage, shall form part of the community property, as a rule (Art. 91, Family Code). I will grant the petition for judicial declaration of nullity of Brad and Angelina's marriage on the ground that there is a lack of marriage license. Article 3 of the Family Code provides that one of the formal requisites of marriage is a valid marriage license and Decide the case and explain. Article 4 of the same Code states that absence of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio. In Abbas v. Abbas (G.R. No. 183896), the Supreme Court declared the marriage as void ab initio because there is proof of lack of record of marriage license.II — Effectively Responding to Prompts 23 By immediately supplying the applicable legal rule or principle, you will impress upon the mind of the checker that you know the jaw. You will also display your issue-spotting skills, that is, you understood the question, and your answer is not only a product of hasty but of careful thinking. Furthermore, in doing so, you quickly Jay down your cards on the table. Your train of thought and logic are presented outright for the checker’s consideration. You may ask why we skipped the suggested answer to the 2016 Bar Examination Political Law Question XV. Bar Examination Question Suggested Answer Suggested Answer: The contention must be rejected. The use of the site temple will not be limited [to] a Particular religious sect. It will be made available to all religious sects. The temporary use of public property for religious purposes without discrimination does not violate the Constitution Ugnacio v. De la Cruz, G.R. No. L-6858; People v. Fernandez, 40 O.G. 1089). Alternative Answer: The contention is meritorious. The state cannot pass laws that aid one religion, all religions, or prefer one religion over another (Emerson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S.A. 1). If the law is questioned on the ground that it violates Sec. 5, Article III of the Constitution that “no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” how will you resolve the challenge? Explain. Here, immediately preceding the question is the predicate argument which the bar examiner requires you to evaluate. And this argument identifies the legal basis of the argument (i.e., the law which appropriates funds for the construction of a universal temple violates the Non-Establishment Clause under Sec. 5, Art. III of the 1987 Constitution). Hence, there is no longer a need to restate the applicable law. In fact, the question calls you to merely elaborate the principle and coverage of the law, and apply it to the facts. c. Application of Legal Rule to Pertinent Facts Legal Writing, as a task, does not only involve issue spotting but also reasoning. The previous step demonstrates your legal knowledge. This step shows your legal reasoning skill. Part and parcel of legal reasoning is showing the applicability of a law24 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING to a given set of facts. Indeed, the ability to identify pertinent from impertinent facts shows your clear grasp of the law and its applicability. That is why immediately succeeding the restatement of the applicable legal rule is the application of that rule to pertinent facts. Consider the table below, particularly the emphasized portion: [Hoar Examination Question [ Is the sale by Marco valid, void, or voidable? Explain with legal basis. . Suggested Answer Ce The sale is void. The marriage was celebrated during the effectivity of the Family Code. In the absence of a marriage settlement, the property relations between the spouses is governed by absolute community of property, whereby all the properties owned by the spouses at the time of the celebration of the marriage, as well as whatever they may acquire during the marriage, shall form part of the community property, as a rule (Art. 91, Family Code). The parcel of land sold is part of the community property as Marco owned it before the marriage. In an absolute community of property regime, the administration and enjoyment shall belong to both spouses jointly (Art. 96, Family Code). Neither spouse may dispose or encumber common _ properties without the authority of the court or the written consent of the other spouse, and in the absence of such authority or consent, the disposition or encumbrance shall be void (Art. 96, Family Code). If the law is questioned on the ground that it violates Sec. 5, Article III of the Constitution that “no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” how will you resolve the challenge? Explain. Suggested Answer: The contention must be rejected. The use of the site temple will not be limited [to] a particular religious sect. It will be made available to all religious sects. The temporary use of public property for religious purposes without discrimination does notIl — Effectively Responding to Prompts 25 violate the Constitution (Ignacio v. De la Cruz, G.R. No. L-6858; People vu. Fernandez, 40 O.G. 1089). Alternative Answer: The contention is meritorious. The state cannot pass laws that aid one religion, all religions, or prefer one religion over another (Emerson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S.A. 1). Decide the case and explain. I will grant the petition for judicial declaration of nullity of Brad and Angelina’s marriage on the ground that there is a lack of marriage license. Article 3 of the Family Code provides that one of the formal requisites of marriage is a valid marriage license and Article 4 of the same Code states that absence of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio. In Abbas v. Abbas (G.R. No. 183896), the Supreme Court declared the marriage as void ab initio because there is proof of lack of record of marriage license. The Certification by the Civil Registrar of Manila that, after a diligent and exhaustive search, the alleged marriage license indicated in the marriage certificate does not appear inthe records and cannot be found proves that the marriage of Brad and Angelina was solemnized without the requisite marriage license and is therefore void ab initio, The absence of the marriage license was certified by the local civil registrar who is the official custodian of these documents and who is in the best position to certify as to the existence of these records.26 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING Notice how the suggested answer, after identifying the pertinent fact, applied the legal rule. In the answer to the first question, the facts “married in 1989” and “[Marco] purchased before his marriage” lead to the conclusion that “The parcel of land sold is part of the community property.” Because of this, Art. 96 is activated, that is, neither spouse can dispose the property without consent from the other. The same can be said in the answer to the second and third questions. In the former, the availability of the temple to all religions coupled with the temporary use of this public facility point to the conclusion that the same will not discriminate against any religion. In the latter, two pertinent facts call for the application of the Abbas’ ruling: (a) presence of certification of diligent and exhaustive search, and inability to find; and (b) such was certified by the local civil registrar who is the official custodian. d. Clarification of Other Related Facts Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. submits what a law school should be in his oft-repeated quote: “the business of a law school is not sufficiently described when you merely say that it is to teach law or make lawyers. It is to teach law in the grand manner and to make great lawyers.” This book will not attempt to expound what Justice Holmes meant. But one thing is for sure: The grand manner of teaching law goes beyond automatic and mindless mechanical application of the law. A great lawyer knows how to reasonably and ethically make fine distinctions, not hairsplitting. That is why legal knowledge, nay complete legal knowledge, is important. Only when you know both the general rule and exception will you be able to make reasonable and ethical distinctions to advance the cause of your clients. This is the entire process of legal reasoning. Many Legal Questions, especially those presented in bar and law school examinations, will include some facts designed to trick you or introduce another principle (¢.g., exception to the general rule). Hence, clarification of the foregoing will show your mastery of all facets of the subject legal rule or principle. Examine the table on the next page, particularly the emphasized portion:28 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO LEGAL WRITING was solemnized without the requisite marriage license and is therefore void ab initio. The absence of the marriage license was certified to by the local civil registrar who is the official custodian of these documents and who is in the best position to certify as to the existence of these records. Also, there is a presumption of regularity in the performance of official duty (Republic v. CA and Castro, G.R. No. 103047). In the first question, the bar examiner included these facts: “Ten years later, or in 1999, Gina left Marco and lived with another man, leaving their two children of school age with Marco.” In doing so, the bar examiner may have wanted you to address the avoidable main issue of the effect of separation and abandonment of children to the sale of a common property for the purpose of child support. Thus, clarifying the effect (or the lack thereof) of these facts will display to the bar examiner your complete knowledge of the law as well as your ability to spot subordinate issues. On the other hand, in the answer to the second question, the addition of the presumption of regularity bolsters the answer to the third question. Since record-keeping is one of the official functions of the Civil Registrar of Manila, then the issuance of a certificate that the marriage license does not appear on record may be accorded this presumption. As shown, this final step may have various permutations or combinations. It may, among others, bolster an argument, introduce a disclaimer, highlight an exception, or clarify the relevance of some facts. Thus, consider using a variety of transition devices to signal to the checker the purpose of adding this part. Examples of these are coordinating transitions to reinforce (e.g., “so, too,” “equally important,” “by the same token,” “similarly”); to introduce a contrasting point (e.g., “on the contrary,” “nevertheless,” “besides”); or to restate (e.g., “simply put,” “in other words). Subordinating transitions may also be used to show causation (eg., “as a result,” “hence,” “accordingly”); to summarize (eg., “in conclusion,” “evidently”); to concede something (e.g., “it is true,” granting that”); or to continue a main argument (e.g., “nevertheless,” “even though”). The concept and use of transition devices will be discussed in the next chapter.