The Supreme Court earlier issued Bar Matter No. 1922, requiring all lawyers to indicate the number and date of issue of their MCLE Certificate of Compliance, and if they could not do so by 25, August 2008, it will result to the dismissal of the case and the expunction of the pleadings from the records. The SC has extended the compliance date to 1 January 2009. Here’s the full text of the amendment: Continue reading →

There are rumors that the results of the 2007 bar exams will be released in February 2008 (while others say it’s March). In the days to come, there will be more “rumors” as to when the 2007 results will be released. These rumors only add to the examinee’s agony of waiting for the bar results. So, we will try to provide updates here and post the results upon release. Good luck and God bless to all 2007 bar examinees! (Should the site traffic become a problem, please also check the updates at Atty-at-Work). Update: LIST OF SUCCESSFUL EXAMINEES here.

While managing a court effectively is no rocket science, neither it is to be taken lightly. If you are a judge or a court official, you have been appointed exactly to the position you desired. And here are your basic duties: Continue reading →

(Note: The bar exams forum is now online) I was hesitant to write anything yesterday, April Fools’ day, especially when what I had to say is something important (well, for those who took the exams, at least) – the bar results will be released tomorrow, 3 April 2007. I noticed that so many future lawyers (their friends and loved ones included) had swamped my Atty-at-Work site, causing it to become unavailable. So, in order for our friends to have another venue to express their colorful emotions (and ease the traffic at the other site), I’m temporarily disabling the registration requirement here so that anyone may release pent-up emotions and post their comments. Continue reading →

The examination for admission to the Philippine Bar (the Bar refers to the aggregation of all lawyers in the Philippines) is one of the most, if not THE most, difficult Philippine licensure exams. Some even say that it’s the most difficult bar exam in the world, primarily because it’s an essay-type exam (there’s already a proposal to adopt objective multiply-choice questions for 30%-40% of the total number of questions). Continue reading →

I’m not talking about track record, competence, degree of confidence and the high level of trust that comes with the attorney-client relationship. Of course, these considerations are crucial because a client entrusts his properties, even his liberty and life, to the able hands of his lawyer.

What I’m referring to is something that I never imagined I would encounter. Only members of the Philippine Bar of good standing, or those who passed the bar exams (scheduled every September of each year) given by the Supreme Court and have taken the lawyer’s oath, may practice law (every lawyer is a compulsory member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines). Only recently, we discovered that the opposing “counsel” in a criminal case is apparently not a lawyer (well, that’s what the certification from the Office of Bar Confidant stated). Continue reading →