Retreating forward

By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

On the eve of the release of the Bar results on 14 April 2023, poignant thoughts kept swirling in my mind.

A handful of my students had taken the 2022 Bar exams and the optimistic side of me is saying that many of them will make the list. They have prepared well even as a big chunk of their Bar preparations was marred by the uncertainties of the pandemic.

In meeting something big and challenging as the Bar exams, one may pick the brains of those also preparing through group study, or by listening in from their professors and reviewers through lectures- whether in-person or through video-link; yet, still, most mental exercises are better handled when one is in solitude.

Silence is key in preparing the mind for anything. While some isolation helps prepare the psyche for the much-needed boost in self-esteem.

Lawyering is no different. It involves a mental exercise all the time even as it requires the whole psyche to be wholly unimpaired.

The practice of law is a mumbo jumbo of meetings and hearings and a cacophony of acrimonious legal arguments trafficked in court. Yet the lawyer’s efficiency is not honed through sheer bravado in thrusting one’s self into the maelstrom of law practice. Instead, the lawyer stirs profundity in his/ her practice by reconnoitering in the office, alone with the case files, the law and jurisprudence.

Then again,  being alone does not equate with locking one’s self in a dark, windowless room. A nice window that affords a view allows one’s spirit to lighten up. The vastness of the sky or the infiniteness of the horizon holds the promise that life moves forward, not backward.

So as the Bar exam results are coming up, many new lawyers will soon join the fold of the legal profession. The choices after passing the Bar are many. One can join an established law firm, open a law office, accept a job in a company, or enter government service.  The financial rewards may depend on the path chosen. But in the practice of law, there are rewards that cannot be approximated in terms of money.

Looking back, it was twenty-three (23) years ago when I became a lawyer.  We belong to the batch that was sworn in, in May 2000. We are the “millennial lawyers”.

I immediately engaged in the private practice and teaching (the law).   I would like to believe that I am still one of the younger lawyers in the legal community- for as they say, age is just a number. But I am mostly saying this because I still look up to more seasoned lawyers who have dedicated their lives to the practice of law, ie., defending clients, prosecuting crimes or causes, settling property issues, etc.  Assuredly, they have come before me.

Yet it has been a long road that I’ve travelled so far. I have my own modest law firm. I am leading a pack of promising attorneys. They have decided to follow the path I’ve chosen. There is always that ambivalence. I know I’m happy and contended where I am now. Will they be, too?

With the anxiety that court trials bring, oddly mixed with personal, financial and other family concerns, pursuing a life devoted to the law could be especially challenging. It is difficult to remain mentally and emotionally intact.

But we still serve the law as this is the road we have picked. It is no longer a road less travelled as many seek this road.

As the new batch of lawyers will be ushered in this April 14, 2022, I believe that these thoughts must be reckoned.

In life, we always have options.  Choosing which path to follow may be difficult. But oftentimes, the more difficult part is how to begin the journey after a path is chosen.

So when perturbed, just step back. Reconnoiter.

And remember that the best way to handle difficult things is by retreating forward.

(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 and a law book author. His website is etriiilaw.com).