100 Best Blogs for Law Students

I am happy to announce that this blog has been included in the Top 100 Best Blogs for Law Students ranked by onlineschools.org. This has been ranked in 2009 when I was still in third year.

From their website:

22. Law School Funk: The chronicles of this law student are hilarious and fun to read. His musings on tests, class competition and summer internships have a lot of information in addition to being entertaining.

I am so happy that this blog has been included as one of the top law student blogs from around the world. Click the image above to go to the list of the Top Best Blogs for Law Students.

Thank you www.onlineschools.org.

Workplace Compensation

Have you been involved in work-related injuries, sickness, or accidents? Or, has your relative or family member been a victim of work-related death?

In our jurisdiction, every worker or employee is covered by the Employees Compensation. In filing for a claim, you don't need to hire a lawyer. You simply need to go to your nearest Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Offices, depending on whether you are a private or government employee, to file your claim. These claims are to be filed with the SSS and GSIS and not with the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) because ECC's jurisdiction only covers appeals in cases where the SSS and GSIS would deny or reject your claim.

In filing an appeal, still, you do not need to hire a lawyer. The claim may be filed by the victim (employee) himself or any of his dependents. In some cases, it is the employer (or company) who does the filing in behalf of the employee.

I have been stressing about the fact that you do not need to hire a lawyer in claiming and processing your workplace compensation. Why? Because hiring one would mean that you will have to pay extra costs which shall most probably be taken from your workplace compensation claims.

In United Kingdom (UK), there are services offered that will assist victims of accidents at work and they will give you 100% of your claims without hidden charges. And, if the victim does not recover any workplace compensation, he does not need to pay any fees, with conditions.

If you think that you may be entitled to workplace compensation, do not delay. A claimant must file his claims within the prescribed period allowed by law and if you sleep on your rights, your claims may be forfeited.

PAO lang?

DON'T ever say PAO lang.

Copied from the PAO website:

PAO Mission

The Public Attorney’s Office exists to provide the indigent litigants, the oppressed, marginalized and underprivileged members of the society  free access to courts, judicial and quasi-judicial agencies, by rendering legal services, counselling and assistance in consonance with the Constitutional mandate that “free access to courts shall not be denied to any person by reason of poverty” in order to ensure the rule of law, truth and social justice as components of the country’s sustainable development.

PAO Vision

A government agency that is God-centered and dynamic bureaucracy that is responsive to the ever-growing legal needs of the indigents and oppressed led by highly competent, world- class, development-oriented, honest, dedicated and nationalistic leaders and lawyers.

Our Public Attorney's Office is composed of very capable and hardworking lawyers who are overworked and underpaid and they should be accorded with much respect. I was observing one courtroom last Monday and I heard the accused say, "PAO lang," after being asked if he has a lawyer. Maybe it was not his intention to undermine the abilities of his PAO lawyer but to me, it sounded like he did not feel confident being represented by a lawyer provided to him by the government. No one should ever insult his lawyer like that.

2011 Reviewers

From reyrod10 of PinoyLawyer.Org (in Doc format)

1. Labor Law
2. Civil Law
3. Criminal Law
4. Political Law

From a certain "Bert" 

1. Bert's Remedial Law Reviewer (in pdf)

From Elmer P. Brabante's Blog

1. 2011 Remedial Law Reviewer (in pdf)

Online Bar Review Materials

I have not received a reply yet from the authors of the Bar Review Materials that I'm going to upload. So, to keep you busy for a while, here are some helpful links from fellow lawyer and law student bloggers:

NEW!!! Sample MCQs (In Google Docs)

Pace Lex et Sapienta - a blog by Elmer Brabante. To view his archive of bar review materials, please click here.

Civil Procedure Reviewer Part 1 by Elmer Brabante

Civil Procedure Reviewer Part 2 by Elmer Brabante

ADMU Compilation

Gana Notes

UP Notes

I will upload files later after I get permissions from their respective authors. I will try my best to upload readable and well-formatted materials and I promise to make your download hassle-free.


Please check often as I will be updating this list from time to time.


7/15/2011 Update: I have not received any replies from the authors. I will upload and post the files on Monday and pray that I won't be charged with copyright infringement.

Lexoterica: A Philippine Blawg

This is a review of Lexoterica: A Philippine Blawg

This blog started as a blog by Hector de Leon Jr. If you think that the name is familiar, you are right! Who hasn't read the book written by his father, Hector S. de Leon? If you haven't noticed, most of the law books recommended by undergraduate law subjects are authored by Hector S. de Leon and that is because his books are written in a student-friendly fashion.

Now, going back to Lexoterica, this blog became public in 2009 and some bloggers joined Hector de Leon Jr. in January 2010. If you will notice in their About the Bloggers page, you will notice that the contributor-bloggers are all partners of the Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan. Wow! I'm just amazed that these busy lawyers devote some of their precious time to digest the recent Supreme Court decisions.

If you want to check the digested versions of our recent jurisprudence, feel free to visit Lexoterica blog.

Books to read

I would highly be endorsing the books written by Justice Pronove if you're a new trial lawyer. Aside from having the confidence to be in the courtroom, you must also be prepared for your case and must still have what you learned in law school.

These books are helping me now in my practice:

1. Evidence in Action
2. The Art and Technique of Cross Examination

All authored by Justice Ricardo L. Pronove, Jr., it is available in Central Books.

The Art and Technique of Cross Examination

I labored through the internet to find a copy of this book that I was referred to Philippine Elib showing that a book is physically located in UP Diliman College of Law. Also, the title of the book is The Art and Technique of Cross Examination with Rules on Electronic Evidence. But it's not available for sale at Elib because it doesn't have an item cost and honestly, I was confused with that website.

So I asked my sister who was in AdDU that time to drop by at Central Books and inquire if they have this book. And yes, they have around 7 copies left and it sells for P450 a copy. Yey! But when I got the book, it's title is different from that I have found online. My book's title is the Art and Technique of Cross Examination plus Cross-Examination in Arrest and Detention Cases. Hmmm, it's not a fatal discrepancy, though.

In my initial reading, I readily noticed Justice Pronove's style in book writing. It is written briefly and only the very important matters are discussed in the book. By the way, it's just 99 pages and I found the font larger than expected. I haven't finished reading it but there's one line that really caught my attention on its introduction page: "Probably because of the challenging nature of cross-examination, may lawyers shy away from trial work, choosing instead the more peaceful but lucrative corporate practice." How's that for a tip? Who wouldn't want a more peaceful but lucrative lawyering practice? Hahaha!

Are you ready for trial? =)

***UPDATED June 30, 2011:

So, I was able to read parts of this book. It's a really good book. However, there is one major flaw: this book has several typographical errors. I hope that the publisher of this book would reprint it and correct all the typographical errors.

Cross Examination

Kudos to me! I have survived my first cross examination! (Applause)

I was lucky that the opposing counsel was not very fond of objecting and he never really objected to any of my questions this morning, except for the last one, which last  question did not really come from me but coached by my senior.

Honestly, I think that I have to read (again) Justice Pronove's book, Evidence in Action. I did not really make any objection during the direct and redirect examination because I just don't want to and the conduct and questioning was really on my favor. =)

Hahaha! I feel like a student again. I hope someday, my posts would be tips on the conduct of trial.

Tomorrow, I will be attending a hearing for the reception of evidence. Tomorrow's case is a weird one because it's consolidated and there seems to be a controversy in the person of none other than the public prosecutor. I will tell you about it later.

Anyway, as I was reading Evidence in Action, I was referred to another book of the same author, The Art and Technique of Cross Examination. I've googled it just recently and there's an elib.gov.ph where it's listed but not available. The latest publishing is on 2004. I hope I'll find it in our local Rex Bookstore or Central Books.

Sayri ang Balaud (Know the Law)

Davao City, Philippines. Listen to Sayri ang Balaud at Radyo Ukay DXUM 819, every Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM.

I was there earlier to talk about VAWC (RA 9262: Violence Against Women and their Children). My topic included child abuse but due to time constraints, we were not able to discuss about it and just focused on VAWC. Maybe we can schedule Child Abuse next time...

The people behind Sayri ang Balaud:

Program Coordinator: Jessie James Marcellones

Anchor: Jerry Bato

Co-Anchor: Leonor Suyman

Researcher: Dustin Betonio