Portrait of the Street Strategist as Bar Examinee: Part 1

Portrait of the Street Strategist as Bar Examinee

Part 1

by Thads Bentulan

(streetstrategist@gmail.com)

I am the Street Strategist. And this is the portrait of the Street Strategist as bar examinee. Furthermore, I am the most famous bar examinee taking the 2014 bar. And I am going to flunk the bar. 

(This coming Sunday will be the last day of the bar exams, and by writing this, I’m wasting precious time away from the most dreaded subject – Remedial Law. And I assure the Supreme Court, that in this series, I will not mention anything about a particular answer of mine in the exams that will cause the examiner to identify that such is my notebook he is checking.)

Impressions

In this series I am going to share my impressions about the bar.  In the beginning sections, I will discuss my impressions of the bar exams in general. Then followed by my general impressions of the 2014 bar. After that, I will skim over the highlights of the each of the eight bar subjects. Then, after that, I will discuss a little of the human side of my bar experience such as what ballpens I used and some trivial personal aspects, and in the end, I would write about ideas of mine about bar reforms.

Most Famous Unknown

Of course, you know I’m just kidding, right? When I said I am the most famous bar examinee, I mean. You know I’m just kidding.

But I am the most famous unknown. Yes, that’s my tagline – the most famous unknown. This time, I’m not kidding. But you wouldn’t be able to appreciate that tagline at this stage. Stick with me for a while and you’ll soon discover that I’m saying the truth, when I say, I’m the most famous unknown, I mean.

Now, before you invest your precious time and effort in reading this portrait, I would like to warn you in advance.

Don’t expect to find gems of brilliance in here regarding the bar, therefore, don’t waste your time any longer than now nor any further from here.

I am not going to top the bar. Only a former Dean of the University of the Philippines law school, whom I have never met, thinks I am going to the top the bar, if ever I took it. This he told my brother, upon knowing my brother’s surname.

I am not going to pass the bar. The dean of my own law school, who didn’t remember me ever being in school, practically disowned me as a graduate, and advised me not to take the bar unless I re-enroll for an entire year, the fourth year at law school.

Now, I’m not even sure if both Deans are referring to the same person. See that?

I am a famous unknown. I am so famous a former Dean of UP Law knows me just by name recognition alone. 

Yet, on the other hand, I am so unknown, my own dean of law school doesn’t remember me being a student. He had to call another official of the school to vouch for me before he gives me a Certificate of No Derogatory Record.

As I said, I am not going to be a bar topnotcher and I am not going to pass the bar.  

But I am currently taking the bar. And as they say, it’s not over until the fat lady – spins the roulette.

Topnotchers

Wait, I’m not going to be a topnotcher and I’m not going to pass the bar, yet why should you continue following this portrait of mine as an examinee? I don’t know with you, I already told you not to go any further.

But what would you rather read? A masterpiece from a bar topnotcher titled “How to Pass the Bar?” What? Why would you want to read a junk tome like that? What does a topnotcher know how to pass the bar? Nothing. I tell you, he knows nothing. He doesn’t know anything about passing the bar.

He knows how to top the bar, yes, I admit that. But passing the bar? He doesn’t know a thing about it, trust me, he doesn’t.  In that book, he would you tell you about so-called tips such as “master the basics” or “have a good foundation,” and all that rubbish. It’s easy for him to say that because he is a genius and he has memorized all the basics and had a good foundation being class valedictorian at law school. In fact, that’s why he was a topnotcher.

What I mean is that he is good in teaching you, how to be a topnotcher assuming you were class valedictorian. But do you really need that? If you have mastered the basics and had a good foundation in law school, then why would you need a book on how to pass the bar? Maybe you need a book on how to top the bar instead, not how to pass it. Now, that would be a book worth reading written by a topnotcher: How to Top the Bar.” (By the way, if I’m going to top the bar, I will write exactly that book: Portrait of the Street Strategist as Bar Topnotcher. Now that’s a book that will never be written.)

Reality

In reality, what you actually need are tips on how to overcome your lack of basics and how to overcome your lack of good foundation. That’s what you need. 

For instance, since I don’t have time to study all the subjects for this bar, under Civil Law, for obligations and contracts, to overcome my weakness in the basics and foundation, I relied on a small book in 2006 called “The Perfection of Contracts.” 

This thin book simply tells you how contracts are perfected and what the different types of defective contracts are, and how to cure them.

Passers

Anyway, I was telling you bar topnotchers are not necessarily the best persons to tell you how to pass the bar.

And of course, there are those who write about how they passed the bar. That’s good really. Now, that’s the kind of advice you should be reading about. Like studying non-stop for 20 hours daily for six months, or stuff like that. 

Whew, I can’t do that. And I never did that either. Six months? I could invent the cure for dengue given that time. There’s simply too much of an opportunity cost.

But have you noticed that they tell you how they passed the bar, after they have passed the bar? It’s fait accompli. There’s already an operative fact. They tell you how they did it, after they did it. Of course, it works because it already worked. Do you see what I mean?

How about this: Why don’t you guys tell us how you are going to pass the bar, before you pass the bar, without being a class valedictorian in law school? Now, that would be interesting: Say it before you do it.

Res ipsa loquitur

Now, where were we? Ah yes, we were about to answer why you would be following this treatise of mine. 

But notice that you are still with me at this juncture. What does that mean? It means that I have justified myself. The fact that you are still following me up to this juncture is the justification why you should be following me. 

In law, there’s a maxim for that: Res ipsa loquitur – the thing speaks for itself. The reason why you should be following me is because you are now following me – res ipsa loquitur. 

Anyway, I am not going to tell you how to pass the bar because I already told you I am not going to pass it, unless the Supreme Court lowers the passing grade. But on the strength of the standard of 75%, there’s no way I’m gonna get that. Maybe 85%, not 75%. (Funny, how my friends do not that view that as a joke; but that’s a joke, okay? By the way, with 85% you can be first placer.)

The value of half-truth

But, I am now currently taking the bar, and I can share with you my impressions as an examinee. I do not profess to represent the average examinee but at least you can have a glimpse of my viewpoint. And that’s probably the value of what I’m going to tell you: Currency and reality. The bar is ongoing as we speak and I am actually the one taking it.

I cannot tell you the truth, nothing but the truth, because only God knows the whole truth. However, I can give you the half-truths. That’s the only one I know and the only one I can give.

Scenarios

On October 5, 2014, I entered the campus of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

As I was walking that long stretch from Gate 3 in España to the St. Raymund Building, some conversations playing out in my head.

The first is the conversation with my law dean. Not verbatim but the idea is the same.

My Dean (MD): “I don’t remember you as a student.” 

Me: “That was before you were the Dean, sir. And I barely passed my subjects. Teachers don’t remember me.”

MD: “I don’t think you are prepared. Even I have a hard time catching up with the latest changes. My advice to you is that you re-enroll in 4th year. We are maintaining a passing rate of our takers. You can bring the percentage down.”

The other conversation that ran in my head was this:

Former Dean of UP Law: “So you’re the one who talked about certiorari?”

My brother (MB): “No, sir. That was my brother.”

UP Dean: “So, where is your brother practicing now?”

MB: “He’s not a lawyer, sir, but he has a law degree.”

UP Dean: “He’s not a lawyer? I see. Your brother is a free thinker. He is creative and has original ideas. If ever he is going to take the bar, he’s going to be a topnotcher.”

Two deans. Two perceptions. One bar. One Street Strategist.

(to be continued; streetstrategist@gmail.com)

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