of crappy english and the upcoming bar results

right now, i am drafting an opinion for a client. while i can't post the details here (client confidentiality and all that), let's just say that i am having the most difficult time cause, for the life of me, i cannot understand what this certain lawyer is trying to say.

this brings me back to the time when i was still an executive assistant v in the court of appeals, meaning i was a law graduate but i haven't passed the bar yet. it basically involves doing the same things that the lawyers are doing, except for much, much less pay. i thought i was going to be an executive assistant v for a couple of months only, but then i didn't pass the bar on my first take, and it meant being in the same position for yet another year. i can't really diss the position, since i truly learned so many things drafting decisions and resolutions but what got me really down was when i'd be faced with horribly written pleadings, with the worst english, by lawyers.

the thing is, as lawyers, everything we know is in our heads. our jobs rely primarily on how well we are able to communicate these ideas - to our clients, to the opposing party, to the judge. that's the reason why, to this date, the bar examination is a four-week trauma journey that requires you to write - by hand - essay type answers. it would be so easy to come up with an examination that would simply ask "which of the following is not an element of the crime of qualified theft" or something like that to test the prospective lawyer's knowledge of the law, but it will not, unfortunately test his ability to communicate. and, as i said, communication is key.

so, while i may not be the most grammatically suave person (just ask my bosses, i am prone to stupid little mistakes), i'd like to think that i am able to communicate my ideas to the reader, with very little, if any, confusion. so that additional year that i was slaving away, trying to work while reviewing a second time, i'd cringe every single time i'd come across a poorly written pleading, and ask god, why, why, why is s/he a lawyer and not me. i'd then ask my friends, why don't they make the bar easier? why don't they just make it multiple choice like all the other board exams? why does it have to be so complicated???? (naks, a sharon line!!) and my friend g would always tell me, your view will change once you pass the bar yourself.

come 3 april 2010, it will be three years since i received the most wonderful news in the world. i remember how i went home early, found myself stuck in quezon blvd traffic with what presumably was the chief justice's camry, and was so scared knowing that if he was on his way home already, then the en banc session was done already and the results would be out really, really soon. i remember how i gave g my two phones, went to mass, and couldn't remember anything the priest said. i just stood up when everyone stood up, and knelt when they did. and then we went home, and no results still, and then r called congratulating me, and then i called family (my dad, crazy man, wasn't picking up to hear the greatest news in the universe) almost in tears trying to tell them that, yes, i finally made it this time around.

and you know what, g was right. it all changes once you finally pass the bar. cause i remember the years after that, they kept lowering the passing rate to 70% and i kept thinking that dang, if they did that when i first took the bar i would have passed myself so how dumb is that????

anyway, the results will be out soon (it usually comes out holy week. mine came out on holy tuesday) and there's chismis that a huge percentage is disqualified already (for getting grades below 50% in any single subject) and that very few people passed tax (which is a really dumb bar subject if you ask me)and so the supreme court had to sit en banc to decide what to do with the results. IMHO, it doesn't help anyone when you lower your standards. because really, all you have to do is read this complaint affidavit prepared by this lawyer i know to realize what a stupid idea that is.

p.s. that said, i am keeping my fingers crossed and my hands in prayer mode for the brother of a friend. may he be more blessed than i was and make it on his first take.