By Rhonadale M. Florentino
Layout by: Lou Margaret Nebit
Picture this: It’s four in the afternoon on a weekend and just like any other lazy weekend, you spend it doomscrolling on your phone. Then you hear a voice from a popular content creator.
“A day in the life of a law student!”
You spend a few minutes watching that reel. Just like that, your algorithm was changed. You now see multiple videos from different content creators about what their day was like as they go through law school – sharp and snappy dresses, big books with highlights, laptops, and tablets set against a neatly arranged table. You get excited by what you see. You tell yourself, “I can do this.”
But is it really that easy?
The Study of Law
In 2024, Philippine law schools posted a passing rate of 37.84%, meaning 3,962 examinees got their ‘Atty’ out of more than 10,000 applicants. This is deemed to be higher than the passing rate of 36.77% in 2023, but lower than the 43.47% in 2022. Prior to the pandemic, passing rates averaged at around 17%, with 2014 posting only an 18.82% passing rate (Board Exams PH 2024). While these numbers might not be reflective of the actual number of students enrolling in, it is still indicative of how tough the program can be. Not only do you have to maintain your grit and sanity for the next four to five years of your life, you also have to duke it out with thousands of other law graduates who would want to practice the profession.
That being the case, should you now no longer pursue your dreams of becoming a lawyer?
Taking the First Step
Before embarking upon this challenging and complicated path, aspiring law students must first figure out why they want to be a lawyer. This will help to keep you steady, especially during those times when you might want to give up.
For Atty. Jess Christian Ramirez, a graduate of the University of the Philippines-Diliman -College of Law, the reason why he took up law was because he wanted further studies that would help ensure that he is ‘hireable.’ He admits, though, that law school is very different from what we usually see on TV. How so? TV would usually show students as having enough time to study while maintaining their social life. In reality, most students are working in the morning and studying in the evening while also taking care of their family – hardly any time left to read through hundreds of cases while memorizing important articles.
On the other hand, Mik Aggabao, currently a third-year law student, disclosed that he was not actually sure about enrolling in a Juris Doctor program. His work involved policy creation on grassroot initiatives and seafarer rights, which meant spending time investigating the “legal landscape” of these areas. As he dug deeper into the various laws concerning mariner rights, he found himself engrossed about different laws of the land. It, therefore, became a natural step for him to get himself into law school.
Similarly, Atty. Rizzle May Ostia-Alburo, a founding partner of the Alburo-Alburo and Associates Law Office, also initially felt that she was not meant for the life of an attorney as she did not see herself as a good debater. Her husband, however, was already enrolled in a Juris Doctor program at the Arellano University at that time. He influenced her to give it a try.
What, like it’s hard?
Pursuing law school is one thing, but getting there is a whole different story. With the abolishment of the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhilSAT), some institutions have to depend on their own battery of exams to qualify applicants. In most cases this would include logical reasoning, reading comprehension, and English proficiency.
For Jodie Villanueva, a 2nd-year student at the San Sebastian College-Recoletos College of Law, you should not only focus on how easy the entrance exam would be. Consider other factors such as the tuition fee, the location, and the schedule. The last one is particularly important if you are a working student since not all law schools cater to such.
Onsite or Online?
It is interesting to note that there are very few law schools that offer a pure online approach, even as more undergraduate programs have started offering hyflex learning modes. This is probably because law students are able to learn more with their peers when the session is done onsite. Atty. Ostia-Alburo agrees with this. She believes that students are more motivated to study when they physically see how dedicated their classmates are in achieving that coveted ‘Atty’ title. She added that onsite learning allows you to easily see the body language of your professors, which can sometimes help during cold calls or recitations. This also prepares you for when you are in court and you need to quickly gauge non-verbal cues from the opposing party.
Atty. Ramirez, though, has a different take on this, stating that the learning modality does not matter, given the changes in technology and the horrendous traffic in the Philippines. What matters most for him is the preparation that the student makes before the class starts. At the end of the day, a recitation is still a recitation based on the same law books and codals.
Building the Foundation
Very few people start out in life intending to be a lawyer or enrolling to become one someday. Fortunately, the Juris Doctor degree does not require a particular undergraduate degree. Arguably, certain degrees do give you some form of advantages. For example, Atty. Ostia-Alburo’s undergraduate course of Communication Research, where she had to do a lot of readings, helped her when dealing with lengthy cases during her stint at the UST Faculty of Civil Law. On the other hand, Mik believes that courses related to communication and human behavior can prepare you not only when it comes to jurisprudence but also in understanding the ‘spirit’ behind each provision in your codals.
For Jodie, there is no specific course that one has to take in order to make it to law school. What is more important is the grit and determination that you honed during your undergraduate years.
Chasing the Dream
As a final word, Jodie mentioned that, if you are interested in getting your degree in law, start early by keeping yourself updated with current events. It also does not hurt to develop a love for reading since you will be doing it a lot. Atty. Ostia-Alburo also mentions that it is not about memorizing facts. Legal problems are hardly answerable by a single concept. You need to be able to apply various principles to address legal issues. Even if you have not memorized the exact wordings of the law, if you understand their very essence you will be able to apply them in practice. Atty. Ramirez echoes the same sentiments. For him, a better plan of attack is to master the law through keywords and associate them with one another. Rote memory work will only do about 25 to 30 percent of the job. The rest still lies on your ability to comprehend, analyze, and relate legal topics to any given scenario.