Lawyering is like fine wine

By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

The venue was filled with about 270 lawyers attending their Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) seminar. It is mandatory for all active lawyers to attend as they need to comply with the 36-unit requirement every three years pursuant to Bar Matter No. 850 lest they be suspended from practicing law. This MCLE seminar is being conducted by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Iloilo Chapter to help its members be compliant with Bar Matter No. 850. The venue was at Smallville 21 in Mandurriao, Iloilo City and was slated from August 28 to 31, 2024.

The attendees ranged from the young ones to the very seasoned lawyers. Also in attendance were some public prosecutors, labor arbiters, legal officers of government offices, and government officials currently holding elective and appointive offices.

The objective is to ensure that lawyers are updated on recent laws and regulations and especially the evolution of jurisprudence on subjects in law that are essential to their practice. Speakers are invited to discuss specialized topics. They come from the judiciary, the academe, and some from private practice who have tucked in their belt, some experience and specialized skill and/or knowledge that they can share to the other members of the legal profession.

Stepping onto the podium as the first lecturer, a profound honor consumed me even as the collective energy from the crowd gradually sapped mine. In the sea of people, I could make out familiar faces: lawyers I meet regularly in the courthouse, former students who are now lawyers, and some colleagues from the academe.

Although I’ve been a lecturer for the MCLE for some years now to lawyers from Metro Manila and other cities, this is my first time to give a lecture in Iloilo City- my hometown. This lecture is also close to home because my son- who is a new lawyer, and my dad- a seasoned lawyer, were both attending the seminar.

After my lecture took off and I was in total flight mode, my thoughts veered to the idea of lawyering. It involves a lifetime of studying. My son is attending his very first MCLE while my dad is attending it after a countless number of times.

For my part, to deserve being in the podium, it means that I had to attend several MCLEs and study the law and evolution of jurisprudence immensely. I realized that not a single case makes jurisprudence as it is a landscape. You don’t read and cite a single case and call it jurisprudence. Instead, one must study how case law has begun and how it developed to what it is now.

I would usually be inspired to write whether for this column, the slides or materials for my lectures, or the law books I’m writing, when I’m located on the 18^th floor of my favorite condominium unit. It provides me a panoramic view of Guimaras and almost every detail of its mountain-scape would not escape my notice. While in awe of my view, I would utter a prayer and then after saying “Amen”, I’d say, “that’s jurisprudence.” “It is the entire landscape that you see. Not a single tree or hill makes jurisprudence. It is the entire mountain-scape of Guimaras that congeals jurisprudence.”

But just like in life, in law, too, you don’t just easily get to rise high and get an awe-inspiring view of things. You must work your way to the top.  One legal provision at a time. One Supreme Court decision at a time. Over time, the law will make more sense. By following through with jurisprudence, the law will become more attuned with justice.

After the applause and some congratulatory greetings, I left the venue and proceeded to my car. I sat alone and had some musings. Later in the day, at dusk, I’d be entering a smaller room with fewer attendees and lecturing on the fundamentals of civil law to first year law students. The challenge is how to show them the way to the top where they can get a better view of whatever landscape they choose to imagine jurisprudence would be.

So, I begin by showing them the forest, one tree at a time. Then I draw the hill. By patiently following through, they will soon start to make out the contours of the mountains.

This weekend, I look forward to having a quiet dinner with my son, my dad and the rest of the family. Although unsaid, my son seeks to follow my footsteps even as I have followed my dad’s. Fifty years apart, my son and dad’s course in law are the same. The same is true with all lawyers: we seek to learn the law and its fullest meaning. We all want to get an awe-inspiring view of the legal landscape.

Perhaps there is another meaning to the old saying that “lawyers are like wine as they get better with age.”  Maybe, one needs to work their way to the top to get a full view of the mountain-scape and then they deserve to uncork the wine, pour it in a glass, sniff it, and then sip it.

Indeed, lawyering is like fine wine.

(The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, a law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and a book author. His website is etriiilaw.com).