228902100-Legal-Counseling-First-Exam-Reviewer.pdf

LEGAL COUNSELLING 1ST EXAMINATION REVIEWER Based on the lectures of Atty. Cecilia Angeles Lecture 1 (June 18, 2012)

Legal Legal Counse Counseli ling ng is basica basicall lly, y, is meetin meeting g your your client, client, knowing his woes, knowing the reason why he came to you and giving advice. For a lot of people, you come to a lawyer lawyer,, and say attor attorney ney,, ang sanga sa mangga mangga sa among silingan, nagbarog na sa akong fence. !wede ba nako na putlon"# $hat is already a legal issue. Can he cut such branch of that mango tree" Can somebody rememb remember er the law on property" property" %& can hear people people whispering haha'( Can he cut down that branch" )us nakali nakalimot mot na lagi' lagi' *hen was the last last time time you had property" Last year" +y goodness' ou know when you go to private practice, ang -uestion hind what is the corporate share of class A class B#. but Attorney, unsa man tong iro sa among neighbor"# anyan ang mga tanong ng mga kliyente ninyo. ou have to know this thin things gs,, not not kad kadal alii lang lang ha" ha" $emp $empa a lang lang.# .# )o you you resear research ch on that, that, Apoll Apollo. o. ive ive me the answer ne/t week. $hose are the type of -uestions. & got involved with my daughter0s !$A so & get to know the teachers, and then knowing that & am a lawyer, they would ask Attorney, meron lang akong -uestion bah, yung kasing punoan ng aking neighbor, nahulog na# you have to be careful ha. *hat are the grounds for him to chop down that that tree. tree. )o you you have have to be carefu careful. l. +ero +eron n pang pang Attorney, kaning akong anak ba, wla nako na rehistro pag anak nako niya bah unsa man ang akong buhaton"# anun nay an, she got married, she had a child when she was single, she got married to another man, and the child is using the name of the second husband. &s there a valid adoption there" $his are the things that come into your radar when you open your new illanueva Law office. )o let0s say illanueva2 3ntal2 arcia Law 3ffices. )o, you think that someone goes here and says & want want to file file a case case for for viol violat atio ion n of intel intelle lect ctua uall property law# 4o you think you0ll have those clients here in 4avao" )o wherever your office is, yun yung mga mga prob proble lema ma na na haha hahara rapi pin n niny ninyo. o. Att Attor orne ney y nawad2an kog lisensya# *hat does he do" ou need to draw draw an affi affida davi vit. t. 5ven 5ven if you you draw draw a very very simp simple le documents, you must be sure that these documents comply with re-uirements of law. And once you give advice, even if hasn0t paid yet, you are already engaged as a lawyer.

RACTICE O! LAW

It is the act of per perform formin ing g any activ ctiviity  pertaining to a bonafide member of the bar which is carried out on a habitual or continuous process and tran transl slat ated ed into into acti action on by mean meanss of givi giving ng advi advice ce,, drafting drafting of documents documents or appearance appearance in court court or other administrative or quasi-judicial body involving involving the use of  faculty or intelligence of one skilled in law who is entitled to a legal fee. Let0s break it down6  Any activity pertaining to a bona fide member member of the bar  2

ou ou hav have e to be be a mem membe berr of the the bar bar for for you you to to practice law. $hose who are under2bar, there is a program wherein law students are allowed to practice, but that is governed by a special law.

Which is carried out on a habitual or continuous process 2

7abi 7abitu tual al and and con conti tinu nuou ouss proc proces ess, s, so so you you go out out there and present yourself as a lawyer, and you perform an activity in a continuous process, you don0 don0tt 8ust 8ust draw draw a docum documen entt once once in a blue blue moon, you do it as a livelihood.

ran ransl slat ated ed into into acti action on by mean meanss of givi giving ng advi advice ce,, drafting of documents 2

$hat0s where important.

your

legal

forms

become

!r appearance in court or other administrative or quasi judicial body  2

5ven 5ven if if you you 8ust 8ust app appea earr in cour courtt and and say say ou ourr 7onor, & move to postpone# that is already a practice of law. &f you0re a part of big law firms, the 8unior lawyers are usually the ones sent to do minor motions, kaba9/ ka pa nyan. But you know class, the 8udge will always decide based on the documents presented to him, all these things you see in Boston legal, are mere tactics of impressing the client, but at the end of the day, the 8udge will decide on the basis of your documents.

!ther administrative or quasi-judicial body 

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LEGAL COUNSELLING 1ST EXAMINATION REVIEWER Based on the lectures of Atty. Cecilia Angeles 2

*hat is an administra trative body" *hat is a -uasi28udicial body"

"se of faculty or intelligence of one skilled in law  2

ou ou know know thi thiss is real really ly com compl plic icate ated, d, the the use use of of faculty or intelligence of one skilled in law. 7ow do you become skilled in law" 3w well, in your 1st, 9nd or :rd year, you can0t say that you already use your faculty, but you can already say that you are using your intelligence, your training, of your studies. And above all, this performance of an act, is supposed to be compensated, you are entitled to a legal fee.

*hen you do these things, you ask yourself, are you already already in the practice of law" es, you are. But even if you are appearing in 8udicial, administrative or -uasi2  8udicial bodies, you draft documents, but you are not signing the pleadings, are you in the practice of law" Actually you are not in the practice of law. #$ota bene% If you are not signing pleadings, you are not engaged in the practi practice ce of law& ou are doing the things that is actually done by a lawyer but you are not engaged in the practice of law. $o be in the practice of law, you are the one signing the documents. $here paralegals, they seem to be lawyers, they have knowledge of law, but they are not members of the bar but they are virtually doing practice of law, but they are not law practitioners.

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& submit, %because the author says that it is an art( & submit that legal counseling is both a science and an art. &t is "c#ence beca becaus use e it invo involv lves es the the preci precise se application of legal principles and statutes to a given state of facts. ou have a legal principle of e-uity, %what else" &n pari delicto( those are legal principles and you have to apply these principles to given set of facts. )o in a way, you can0t measure it, it is not appropriate if you do not apply these principles to facts correctly. $hey must be applied applied correctly.*hy correctly.*hy $rt" Because it involves analytical reasoning and language. ou know class, law is a very, it language centered. ou never do away with 5nglish in the practice of law. &t is the number one instrument when you engaged in the practice, especially to the court and your peers. $he decisions are made in 5nglish. $he world is getting too small, the language of business is 5nglish, we travel we use 5nglish. )o 5nglish will be there whether you like it or not.  Analytical reasoning 2

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What is 'cience( 

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&t is is any any skill skill or tech technini-ue ue that that re-ui re-uires res a preci precise se application of facts or principles.

What is Art( 

&t may may be preve prevent ntiv ive, e, cura curati tive, ve, not not nece necess ssari arily ly advers adversari arial. al. +aybe +aybe the -uesti -uestion on on hand hand is *hat is the ne/t step" & want to register my lan land# ;egi ;egist ster eriing a deed eed of sale sale is not not adversarial at all. $his is part of legal advice, although it could be done by any person, when you want to register your property you really don0t need a lawyer, but sometimes you know, the client can pay the services of a lawyer.

'olution of a legal problem

*hy do we say it is an art" &t could be a science it could be an art, it could be the science of law. *hy art" *hy not science" &t is an art, it is a science, and it could be both.

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!rob !roble lem m solv solvin ing g or ana analy lyti tica call reaso reasoni ning ng..

)iving of advice or information

LEGAL COUNSELING

It is the art of giving giving advice advice and inform informati ation on concerning the solution to a legal problem arising from a given state of facts and the adoption of appropriate reliefs or remedies under the law and enforcement of a legal obligation before a judicial or quasi-judicial body.

&t is is a skil skilll invo involv lved ed in in the the cond conduc uctt of any any hum human an activity.

$he problem to be solved is leg legal. And you know when an issue is legal.

o a given state of facts Avoi Avoid d hypo hypoth theti etical cal sit situa uati tion ons. s. )o )o to be be able able to give advice, it has to be a given state of facts. )om )ometim etimes es your our cli client ent is a bit bit hesi hesita tant nt,, sometim sometimes es they they will will 8ust 8ust rephra rephrase se it. +insan +insan nahihiya eh. &f you know from your conversation with your client that something is

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LEGAL COUNSELLING 1ST EXAMINATION REVIEWER Based on the lectures of Atty. Cecilia Angeles hidden here, so you schedule him for another interview. For a cup of coffee, they loosen up. $hen you know the real state of facts.  Adoption of appropriate remedies given by law  2

Adoption of appropriate remedies given by law. &t has to be appropriate hindi yang &papatay nalang nato na bah# it must be a legal advice. )ometimes you don0t know, right" unsaon ko mana attorney nang sanga"# it is a skill, if you are trying to hide your ignorance, you must have to do some postulate like Ah, that is a bit complicated, &0ll get back to you on that, why don0t we schedule another appointment"# %8oke time(

*nforcement of a legal obligation 2

$here is a legal obligation involved and must be satisfied. &f there is no legal obligation, there will be no cause of action.

o judicial body or quasi-judicial body  2

office, instrumentality or government owned and controlled corporation or the 3CC. $he 3CC0s each one has its own charter, but their charter will also come into play or stick with the provisions of the Administrative Code. &f you have certain complaint to the 4epartment of $rade, you follow the rules and regulations to achieve a certain process. *hen you follow the steps, at the end of the process there is a decision, such decision is made by an administrative body as contrasted to a -uasi2  8udicial body. >sually, a -uasi28udicial body sits en banc. For e/ample the