At the Legal Education Summit in 2019, the Supreme Court identified a critical finding—legal education always adjusts to the bar examinations.
The bar-centric attitude of legal education compelled most law students to focus on memorizing legal doctrines and spotting issues in essay questions at the expense of an in-depth understanding of the law, its intricacies, and nuances. Law schools place a premium on their passing rates, creating unnecessary competition and discrimination. Law schools tend to admit students who have high probability of passing bar examinations instead of upgrading the quality of their legal education programs.
In response, the summit stakeholders submitted valuable suggestions which were incorporated in the Supreme Court’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovation 2022-2027: (1) to eradicate bar-centricity; (2) to prioritize skills training and ethical responsibility; and (3) to enhance legal education through bar reforms.
To improve the law school course and pedagogy, the Supreme Court introduced the Revised Model Law Curriculum, which aims to produce law graduates who are professionally competent, practice-ready, responsible, and highly ethical. The updated law curriculum is centered on relevant bar subjects, and allows specialization and academic tracking attuned to global legal needs. Law students are now taking advantage of computers, Google, ChatGPT, and other cutting-edge technologies concerning artificial intelligence in their legal research and review.
The Supreme Court also institutionalized under Rule 138-A of the Rules of the Court the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP), which is a shift from purely Socratic method to a more experiential, interactive, and reflective process of learning the law. All law schools are required to establish legal clinics to ensure access to justice of the marginalized sector and to inculcate in law students the value of legal professional social responsibility. With CLEP, law students are exposed to actual cases and immersed in personal interaction with real clients that will better prepare them for the dynamic nature of the practice of law.
As chair of the recently concluded 2024 Bar examinations dubbed as #MostValuableLaban, I made sure that the exams exhibited a standard, transparent, and accurate gauge of the examinees’ practical skills and jurisprudential perspectives. I encouraged examinees to adopt a structured methodology in answering the questions, known as the “Three Tiered Method,” which focuses on legal basis, application, and conclusion. This involves starting with a clear and concise response, followed by supporting legal principles—such as statutes, case law, or doctrines—and finally applying these principles to the facts presented in the conclusion. This approach is designed to assess proficiency in knowledge, skills, and values, ensuring that examinees are well-prepared to practice law with competence, professionalism, and ethical integrity.
I recognize well-meaning criticisms, especially coming from esteemed retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban. In his column “With Due Respect” published on Sept. 16, 2024, in this paper, CJ Panganiban expressed concern over the “wholesale entry” to the doors of the legal profession of the 8,241 applicants who passed the 2020/2021 Bar examinations, a record 72.28 percent passing average, when compared to the example set by three legendary bar topnotchers, namely, Claudio Teehankee, first place in the 1940 Bar examinations, and Jose Diokno and Jovito Salonga, who tied for first place in the 1944 Bar examinations.
I believe that the circumstances when Teehankee, Diokno, and Salonga took the bar exams more than 80 years ago are starkly different from today. The constantly changing times now usher the Supreme Court to the “Next Generation” bar examinations which are more skills-based and adaptive to technological advancements without unnecessary barriers to qualifications.
An Inquirer reader, Ida Tiongco, in her Letter to the Editor dated Sept. 20, 2024, raised the need to ensure respectability in the practice of law. The Supreme Court has in fact promulgated the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) and the New Lawyer’s Oath to promote high ethical standards in the legal community. The CPRA now provides a section for the “Responsible Use of Social Media” to remind lawyers of their sworn duties to the administration of justice amidst the use of online platforms while the New Lawyer’s Oath vows to safeguard rights and meaningful freedoms, and to ensure greater and equitable access to justice.
With all these innovations, the Supreme Court is hopeful that future lawyers would not only be fundamentally ready and capable, but also ethically and morally fit to practice this noble profession.
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Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez is chair of the 2024 Bar examinations.