The Muses of FMC Law

By Lcid Crescent D. Fernandez

It has been 171 days since I took the lawyer’s oath and began my practice as a lawyer. While law school and the bar exam may have been mountains to climb and rivers to cross, I look past them now and fix my gaze toward what lies ahead. Like many young lawyers, I often wonder what path I’ll take in this profession.

Where do I go from here?

For a time, I imagined something like the fictional legal drama world of USA Network’s Suits: corporate battles fought in glass towers, sharpened with one-liners and sealed with high-stakes deals.

But real life (and real law) isn’t anything like a sensationalized TV show with scripts and director’s cues and budgets for stylists. In making the decision to establish FMC Law in Iloilo, I found myself guided not by puerile television fantasies, but by real people whose stories will help me write and tell my own. The days I spent with them will inspire the years I have ahead of me – and I am grateful for every minute I was able to spend in their presence.

I call them my muses.

The First Muse: Ma’am Elijo, the Advocate

Ma’am – now Judge – Elijo Sharon Herrera-Bellones was not just a professor or mentor; she was a steady presence who showed what it truly meant to serve. In her classrooms, she’d tell us stories of her practice, helping laborers and workers assert their rights, fighting for the underdog. I saw what it meant to be grounded in purpose. Her dedication was unwavering, even when the work was invisible to the public and quite often thankless. She taught me that law is not just a career you aspire toward, but a calling you answer.

She had this unique way of keeping us focused: by counting down the days. “Your goals,” she would say, “are only a number of days away.”

It was her way of turning the erstwhile dreams I had into targets and milestones. In doing so, she helped me realize that purpose is built day by day, minute by minute, one conscious, meaningful effort after the other – not just imagined, wished, or dreamed into being.

The Second Muse: Atty. Panes, the Warrior

Many know of Atty. Anfred Panes as the founder of A. Panes Law, one of the fastest growing law offices in Iloilo – now boasting over 18 associates. But what I remember the most about him was his honesty and humility. He spoke at length about the fear and anxiety that came when he first started going out on his own. I was there when he opened APL, and I witnessed the vulnerability and quiet courage behind the ambition.

He was also my moot court coach: patient and strategic. He was relentlessly fighting to put us in the best position to win against opponents – and against bad habits. His mentorship has shaped some of the best young Ilonggo lawyers I know today. As a peer and a friend, he remains someone I cheer for and look up to, always.

The Third Muse: Atty. Reyes, the Scholar

While still his student, I knew Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III as a brilliant writer and law professor, one of the best lecturers I’ve seen. His book and recorded lectures were constant companions as I studied for the Bar. Only later did I learn that his father had once taught mine in law school, a thread fatefully connecting two generations.

He has a profound love for the law. You can feel it in the passion that he pours into his classes, in his columns in the Daily Guardian, and in the manner he carries himself. His words illuminate complex ideas with clarity, always driven by a desire for learning and teaching. Even today, his scholarship and brilliance continue to guide me.

The Fourth Muse: Dean Tirol, the Leader

Whereas many other law schools fill their legends with horror stories and tales of abandoning hope, Dean Jose Mari Benjamin Francisco U. Tirol, filled the USA-COL with stories of hope and camaraderie. By his example, I saw that the practice – and study – of law did not have to be done from an ivory tower. It did not need mythic tales of conquests and gods. Instead, he showed me that it was found shoulder-to-shoulder with the people around you.

Dean Tirol, despite his many achievements across his storied career, has always been accessible and understanding to the students within his care. You felt nothing but compassion in his presence and in his leadership. Even as he pushed you to work to achieve your goal of becoming a good lawyer, he made sure you didn’t forget about being a good person.

What a privilege it is to have met these muses!

Now, as my partners and I begin writing the first chapters of FMC Law, I carry with me the wisdom, faith, and inspirations of my muses. Each one gave me a life-changing vision of what it means to practice with integrity, courage, and intellect. I am lucky to still have their voices nearby to consult, to admire, and to thank.

My law school days are past me and my lawyering years are only just now unfolding, albeit with some uncertainty and indecision – but I can’t fail the people who trust me, who put their faith in me, and who believe in my abilities and my good will. In founding FMC Law, I do not claim to have all the answers but I do know this: the path ahead is easier to tread when you know it was so passionately and carefully paved by the people who are behind your success.