by Atty. Rita Linda V. Jimeno

Lawyers are, once again, scrambling to enroll in seminars to comply with the mandatory continuing legal education required by the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The deadline for compliance with the third period is, after all, fast-approaching, that is, on April 15, 2010. The continuing legal education requirement calls for the completion by lawyers of 36 units of required and prescribed law subjects every three years. This means listening to lectures for at least four days, continuous or broken. To the layman, that may not seem too bad. Yet, many lawyers, if given a choice, would opt for the removal of this requirement. And this baffles my mind.

Last week, I attended a seminar to complete lacking units in the continuing legal education requirement myself. I noticed that the last rows and the seats at the edges were the first ones to be filled while the rows closest to the podium were filled last. In fact, several vacant seats at the center remained so until the end of the day. I could not help noticing several participants doing work on their laptops during the seminar while some openly slept or read books or newspapers while a speaker delivered a lecture. Another one was signing a bunch of documents and pleadings delivered to him by an office messenger. Some lawyers pay to sit in a seminar but think their money’s worth consists in doing something else. There is something painfully disturbing about this. Learning is a human activity that should never cease for as long as one breathes. Unlike dogs, humans continue to learn—new tricks, if you will—far into their advanced years. This is what sets us apart from animals. I have yet to listen to a lecture or attend a seminar from which I, totally, do not learn a new thing.

The mandatory continuing legal education was instituted by the Supreme Court so that lawyers are kept abreast with new developments in the law, new doctrines by the Supreme Court and to refresh their memories of fundamentals they may have forgotten in the course of specializing in a particular area. Continuing legal education is not exclusive to the Philippines because most other jurisdictions, like the United States have long practiced this. After all, law is not static but is a growing universe of new legislations; Supreme Court decisions and issuances; and international law developments.

What gives, then? Why are many lawyers averse to the idea? Do some lawyers think they know it all and cannot possibly learn new things any more? Do some lawyers, perhaps, resist continuing education because it is mandatory rather than voluntary? Or, is it simply that they think they need not know what is being discussed because it is not within their sphere of interest and practice? The answer could be all of the above—but what a terrible waste it is.

There is always something to learn from another. Even one of the smallest of earth’s creatures, the ant, has a lesson to share with man. True, there are always persons lesser than one’s self, but even they, know something the greater person does not. It may be in the area of managing one’s finances; or being happily married; or keeping healthy and fit. Or, being patient and resilient, despite poverty and constant trials. There is always something one can learn from another as long as one keeps an open mind. It is only a dead person, or one whose ego is so bloated, who stops to learn.

A lawyer is looked up to in a community because he is presumed to know more than anyone else. He is perceived as a leader and someone who has the competence and the know-how to correct a wrong and deliver justice. Even in parties or social gatherings, when one is introduced as a lawyer, someone invariably asks his opinion about some legal issue. Very often, he is asked about his take either on political or other issues that confront the nation. Thus, lawyers—young or old; budding or made—must make it their business to continue to learn about anything and every thing. Would it not be embarrassing for a lawyer to say, “Er, sorry I do not remember my criminal law anymore because I have been specializing in corporate law.”

For the new lawyers, the constant learning of new knowledge and new skills will set them apart from their peers. More doors are opened for those willing to learn new things. When a student graduates from law school and passes the bar, he is armed with the basics and fundamentals of law practice. But the real world needs more than knowledge of the basics. And so, he must arduously learn so much more if he desires to be good at a particular field of practice. And even when he can say that he is, say, already a good trial lawyer, his learning cannot end there. Every new case is a new challenge that requires new research, new analysis and a fresh approach. Ask the successful and seasoned trial lawyers and they will tell you that there is no substitute for preparation in each individual case.

I have been a practicing lawyer since I passed the bar in 1986. Yet, I’m still as eager to learn new things as when I first entered law school. There were times I have had to swallow looking dumb for not already knowing. For instance, alternative modes of dispute resolution were not an “in” thing then but now, they are called the wave of the future. One of these modes—arbitration—was not taught in law schools then, not even as an elective. And so when I first took on a case in arbitration, I toiled in learning as much about it as possible; sometimes got embarrassed among more learned peers. But it paid off. Now, the number of cases in arbitration are growing and those who sacrificed to learn it (fortunately, including me) are enjoying the edge. Back then, environmental law practice was perceived as inconsequential and bleak. Those who dared to tread this field years ago are now reaping the glory of being pioneers in what is turning out to be a fast growing area of practice - what with the problems of climate change and the need for alternative energy confronting the world.

Clearly, success in life, not only in the practice of law, goes to those who remain curious all their lives and who do not tire learning. Consider the following thoughts:

“I am learning all the time. My tombstone will be my diploma”—Eartha Kitt

“Man’ mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”—Oliver Wendell Holmes

“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”- Abraham Lincoln

And finally, one of my favorite quotes: “Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self esteem. That is why, young children, before they are aware of their self-importance, learn so easily.”—Thomas Szasz

Email: ritalindaj@gmail.com Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph