Rethinking Philippine Legal Education in the 4th International Legal Management Conference
On 12 October 2019, Legal Management students from around the country gathered for the 4th International Legal Management Conference held in Hotel Jen Manila to discuss the status of legal education in the country. One of the speakers in the conference was our Associate, Mark Nester T. Mendoza, who talked about the current state of legal education in the Philippines. In his speech, he compared how all Philippine schools are fixated in achieving a high percentage of passing rate in the Bar exams while law schools in other jurisdictions prepare their students more towards the practice of their legal profession.
As a graduate of Ateneo Law School, he discussed how Ateneo Law is leading the innovation in the field of legal study in the Philippines, specifically how Ateneo Law pioneered the tracking system wherein law students are given opportunities early on to specialize in different fields which such as litigation, corporate law, international law, alternative dispute resolution, intellectual property, including emerging fields in media, sports, robotics, artificial intelligence, and humanitarian law. Atty. Mendoza also gave the participants advice in the pursuit of their legal education. He emphasized that there is no best pre-law course and any degree can be a pre-law course so long as they espouse the value of hard work and excellence. He also imparted tips and tricks on how to be admitted in their law school of choice which can be summarized into two words: hard work.
