What makes a good practice of law?

Editor's note: GMA Integrated News journalist Chino Gaston originally wrote this essay for his midterm examinations for the subject Philosophy of Law at Arellano University Law School.

Given my limited experience in law much more its profession and practice, I find it challenging to answer the question with any semblance of authority, much more confidence. But since I must, I would be inclined to believe that a good practice of the legal profession should remain faithful to the Constitution, to the people, and ultimately to myself. To this end the definition of what makes a good lawyer should find its genesis in the aspiring student of law, such as myself, who through his voluntary enterprise of completing his law degree, hurdling the Philippine Bar Examinations and keeping within the standards of the profession, enables him to eventually wield the instruments of law.

Since I subscribe to the belief that the individual lawyer and the values he keeps in his heart is the Mithril from which the good practice of law shall be forged and hammered out, then the fire, anvil and the forge used to temper, shape, mold and strengthen the instrument shall be of equal importance in this elusive definition.

The path the lawyer takes in his finite journey, and the consequences of his actions and enterprise shall be the evidence upon which his practice shall be judged, and its resiliency and edge, tested by society and his peers.

To depart from the usual definition of what makes a profession good and just, allow me then, having laid down the premise that one’s individual values and industry should be likened to the forge, to offer, that a good practice of law shall be a well-made, single-edged sword.

THE PRACTICE OF LAW IS LIKE A SWORD

I can imagine a noble and just practice of law to be like a strong, and evenly tempered sword, a katana if you may, in the legal profession. It is sharp, eager, and able to cut and cull injustice and wrongdoing. It is precise and skilled to discern when, where, or if it must cut. That to me would embody what a law practice should be: fearless, determined and ready to dismember the wrong not only for the benefit of one’s clients but ultimately to ensure that justice is done not only to the aggrieved but also to the guilty.

This means the lawyer shall defend with all his might and knowledge the causes brought to him, or those he sees must be taken up in the name of what is just and right.

While there are established conventions and jurisprudence of how the practice of law should be defined, to my mind, the lawyer, like the sword has an obligation to do battle in the court and earn his scars in litigation. Not to find purpose in adversarial proceedings alone but to gather experience and knowledge that he or she shall eventually pass on. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, and the importance of doing legal battle I shall discuss before the end of this piece.

I cannot disassociate my definition from what I imagine my own law practice shall be compounded by the peculiarities of my profession as a journalist. To this end, the sword of law shall be used to defend my colleagues in the profession as well as render legal advice to those who may need it. To my mind it can perhaps also be an opportunity to reiterate and formulate policy to address the half-truths and dark whispers shared by those journalists of lesser repute and those pretending to wear the cloak of freedom of expression.

It shall be a unique practice indeed if one is to defend the right of free speech but at the same time use the law to save journalists and the profession from themselves, if and when, they eventually stray.

THE SWORD HAS A BLUNTED EDGE

And since my vision of a good law practice is a single-edged sword, it has necessarily a blunted end, normally used to parry and ward attack in battle. This part that does not cut, should stand for the more compassionate, benevolent and benign aspect of the legal profession. Though one of the recognized tenets in law is that the defender is not expected to control the blow of justice when it is struck in defense, it should not mean our actions as lawyers shall be of a singular and myopic purpose. A good practitioner after all, not only looks after the rights and claims for redress of his clients but ensure that his actions are also to the benefit of the administration of justice in general.

I can say this is mercy or compassion not only to the injured but also in recognition of the circumstance of the accused, should it be imperative that their rights be also weighed in the larger scheme of things.

One can argue that rendering free legal assistance is as much compassion as it is obligation under the auspices of the legal profession. Yet to my mind it is a duty that one shall keep as part of the social contract, and to one’s creator.

As part of the social contract, the lawyer shall be first among those ever-vigilant over injustice or absurdity in the application of law in society.

A SWORD IS AS MUCH AN INSTRUMENT OF WAR AS IT IS OF CEREMONY

A good lawyer and his profession should inspire and be a beacon to be admired and not reviled. Like the sword that has the power of death and life when wielded, so it must also inspire and stand for right when at rest.

Amid the less desirable examples of the bar who have prostituted themselves in the political arena and corridors of power, the majority who hold the torch of the profession should retake what is deemed or imagined lost. That we shall inspire society as lawyers in pursuit of the greater good is a Herculean task, but a task we should endeavor nonetheless to be faithful to the law.

I am hardly the first journalist to aspire to be a lawyer but the path before me is clear: to tell the truth and uncover the ills of society but also to wield the instruments of law. Can the two co-exist without compromising the values of the other? That shall be my quest and purpose when the time should come.

A SWORD RETURNS TO ITS SCABBARD WHEN NOT NEEDED

When sheathed, it is not idle but shall recognize the need for law not only in litigation but in other endeavors in society like pressing issues involving the environment, indigenous people’s rights, technology and of course teaching. There is a wealth of other issues we should immerse and engage. It is much as our duty as it is part of the social contract with the law of man and God.

A lawyer needs to lend his expertise to the forging of new laws, and participate actively in legislation when called upon to join the cacophony of voices calling for change in society.

I mentioned earlier the need for the lawyer to earn his scars in litigation, not only to serve the needs of his clients in adversarial proceedings, but to also afford the fledgling lawyers, he must and should take under his wing, the benefit of his experience and wisdom.

A good practice of law should involve teaching and imparting knowledge for the collective good.

THE SWORD IS THE BEARER OF DEEDS

Ultimately, the sword rests upon the demise or retirement of the swordsman. It rests in a venerated place for reflection and observation, enjoying the spoils of war or in the case of the lawyer, the fruits of one’s legal profession.

People who come to visit may admire the sword and speak highly of the swordsman and the legendary battles waged and won. But in the case of the legal profession, is it the prosperity of the lawyer or his associates that ultimately define whether he had accomplished a good practice of law?

In the language and tradition of Descartes and Comte, it is not the Napoleons of the world who have the greatest and far-reaching powers that shall be remembered in history but those who have command of ideas of people as the years come marching in.

Prosperity is but a consequence, some may say, of the lawyer applying his skill and knowledge, and attracting the appreciation of society and his paying clients. Yet the real measure of what constitutes a good practice is the legacy and the contributions one has made in the legal profession.

Where laws and policy were forged, struck down, dissected and upheld for the benefit of society, because of the individual or collective acts of lawyers who recognized their duty beyond the intricacies and intrigue of litigation and procedural law, one can say the practice was not only good, but beneficial to all.

Else, in the words of Macbeth, when a lawyer contributes nothing but to himself alone, he is but a passing shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, full of sound and fury, and then is heard no more.