By: Justin Santelices
Photo from Facebook / Letran Legal Management Society.
In celebration of annual “Legal Management Week”, the Letran Legal Management Society (LLMS) launched “Legal Luminaries of Tomorrow; Bridging A Brighter Connection”, a set of online events to celebrate the program and its students.
To formally begin the LM Week, the LLMS conducted a webinar on February 15, 2021 titled “Cognosce Legum Administratio” which was attended by several other Legal Management organizations from different colleges and universities. The said webinar was about the Legal Management program and student organization management and were discussed by invited guest speakers, Hon. Enrique Dela Cruz, Jr. and Atty. Rhandelle Mabunga respectively.
According to Hon. Dela Cruz, Jr., the Legal Management program is an “interdisciplinary course” and a versatile one in that it benefits both students who wish to pursue the study of law after the tertiary level and those who do not plan to enter law school.
For those students who do plan to take up law in the future, they are given an "edge" since, as Hon. Dela Cruz, Jr. said, the setup of law school is relatively similar to the Legal Management program in its manner, matter, and method of educating.
On the other hand, graduates who wish to pursue other passions will still benefit from being a LegMa graduate as the program allows students who would eventually become part of the workforce to gain knowledge on some basic principles of law which, needless to say, catch the eye of employers.
The second speaker, Atty. Mabunga, talked about the highs and lows of managing an organization whilst being a student. As a former president of the Alliance of Legal Management Associations of the Philippines, Inc. (ALMAP), the attorney was no stranger to the realities that a student organization had to face before it would thrive.
He noted that student organizations must have a clear goal as an organization, with which to guide them. He also mentioned how recruitment and retention should be taken into account and that maintaining a healthy relationship with the faculty is of great importance.
On the same day, the LLMS held “Let’s fLEX it!", a forum for the Legal Management student-participants to exchange ideas, opinions, and insights that are based on law as regards two timely matters, particularly, the abrogation of the UP-DND accord and the Anti-Terror Law.
“The Convention”, was held on February 17 which provided participating Legal Management organizations an avenue with which to connect and form ties with other LegMa organizations.
As a conclusion to the LM Week, the final event of the LLMS was a law school conference with Atty. “Mel” Melencio Sta. Maria, Jr. and Atty. Mikhail Tupaz.
The conference was in partnership with other Letran student organizations: Letran Politicvs, Media Works, Letran Junior Financial Executives, Studio 1620, Letran Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants, Letran Tourism Society, and Letran Psychology Society.
During the conference, the two attorneys provided a glimpse of life as a law student. When it comes to studying law, it has been said time and again that discipline is key. For Atty. Mel, it is no different. He says that discipline is necessary not just for the hundreds of cases that they will be reading on a daily basis, but for the whole law school journey itself.
He was clear in saying that law school will be tough; sacrifices have to be made and gratifications often have to be delayed. But in many ways, these things are essential in the study of law, difficult as they may be. As Atty. Mel put it, one must grow through the process.
Atty. Tupaz, an alumnus of the Colegio who now teaches for Political and Legal Studies Area, gave aspiring legal practitioners a more detailed rundown of the arduous process to becoming a lawyer, including the realities they may face prior to overcoming the dreaded Bar examinations and after they take their oath.
In law school, there are no “smart” students, says Atty. Tupaz. There are only those who are disciplined, hardworking, and persevering, or in a language more familiar: “masipag”. Contrary to popular belief, law school is not necessarily easier for those who graduated with Latin honors in college because law school is a level playing field, as pointed out by the attorney.
The entirety of the Legal Management Week saw the faceted experiences that a law student and a lawyer go through. A challenge by Atty. Tupaz to the aspiring attorneys: beat those who claim themselves as intelligent with hard work.