Of Bar exams and life’s daily challenges

The 2026 Civil Law Bar examination was a masterful complexity. It came as a surprise as the Bar exams for the previous 2-3 years were single-layered and focused on fundamentals. This year, it was rather multi-layered, lengthy, and posed highly complex questions that left even the most seasoned legal minds nodding in befuddled appreciation. To unearth the correct answers, examinees could not merely rely on rote memorization; they were forced to intricately weave together deep Civil Code provisions with the sharpest edges of recent jurisprudence.

Indeed, passing this test requires an undeniably solid, unshakeable grasp of civil law.

But honestly? This is exactly what the bar exam should be.

Real-world cases do not present themselves in neat, isolated paragraphs tied to a single, convenient statute. The practice of law is a messy, unpredictable business. It demands an absolute readiness to untangle chaotic facts, apply overlapping laws, and interpret them through the astute yet resilient lens of recent court rulings.

This exam perfectly mirrored the everyday realities of legal practice. Consider it a necessary trial by fire. This grueling difficulty is not a cruel exercise in academic gatekeeping; rather, it is the ultimate preparation for a career that will entail a daily encounter with life’s challenging and infinite possibilities. If one can survive this crucible, they are ready for the world.

While reviewing for the Bar exams, law students are deluged with bar forecasts, predictions and all. The noise could even become a nuisance.

Amid the noise, where lies the irony?

Finding a way through the cacophony of “tips” and “advice”- well-meaning or not, requires, actually, deep introspection. The Bar exams, just like the practice of law, and even life in general, demand from us an indomitable spirit. A strength that must come from deep down within us.

Similar to answering the question: how does a lawyer survive decades of mind-boggling and sometimes demoralizing problems that clients and cases present?

Lawyers need their headspace. Lawyers need utmost love and patience. It is also true in any field of work or profession where the job involves major battles on a daily basis.

We are all warriors in a sense.

But even the toughest combatants need quietude and rest. Sometimes to heal the body. Sometimes the soul. Most of the time, both.

It’s all about understanding these basic needs.

Then the warriors in us can re-emerge from our momentary slumber and live to fight another day.

(The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates (ETRIIILaw)– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, a law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and a book author. Among the books he authored is “Law on Property and Essentials of Land Registration [2024 Edition]” which was on the bestseller’s list in online shops for several months. In 2026, he published his second major legal textbook titled “Comprehensive Reviewer on Persons and Family Relations.” His website is etriiilaw.com).