Alternative Lawyers and the Frontier

Alternative Lawyers and the Frontier

By Ernesto B. Neri

Alternative lawyering and law school

If there is a brand of lawyering this country desperately needs right now, I argue that alternative lawyering is the answer.

This term is used to describe a movement among the legal profession, which mainly employs two things: the law and the meta-legal to serve the ends of social justice. It is an approach in lawyering that does not limit its legal probing to the individual’s technical legal concerns, but analyzes the social context and powers that play into the individual’s issues. Its choice of remedies is not only confined within the walls of the court, it extend to the halls of power and the parliament of the streets. 

Understandably, It is alternative because its practice remains to be pockets in a sea of the “common legal practice”. Though this is predictable, its role in strengthening our democratic institutions and its capacity in empowering the marginalized can never be discounted. Alternative Law groups have played a vital role in influencing the enactment of progressive policies from CARPER to the RH Law. It also plays a key role in broadening access to justice especially to those who cannot afford the regular lawyer’s consultation fee. In many ways, this brand of lawyering has contributed directly to the development of the country through policy determination and access to justice.

In this respect, that is why I believe that law schools should seriously consider institutionalizing venues for law students to directly engage in alternative lawyering be it in the form of internships, class-based projects or through a “ladderized” formation program. Studying the law with a preferential option for the poor elevates legal education into a more meaningful and cause-driven experience. It teaches future lawyers to see the law as a tool to liberate and empower the poor. It can also provide a comparative context on how it can also be used to destroy, oppress and further marginalized the same.

The meaning of my internship experience

My internship experience in Balaod Mindanaw has opened a new lens in my view of the practice and use of the law. The line-up of our activities included translating the law to the local dialect. We also made motions; help facilitate a seminar for Indigenous Peoples; and documented a conference of scientist handling an environmental case among other activities. These were activities that touched the various practices of alternative law groups. Let me share the 3 highlights of our internship experience with Balaod Mindanaw.

Our first project was the research and translation of the tenancy law and some of its implementing rules and regulations. It showed me how important it is for the law to be translated into a language that everybody understands particularly by those whom the law intends to serve. The “democratization” of the language of the law is essential for the empowerment of people at the margins. I saw that the law is of no practical use if it remains in a language only understandable by the academic elites. Therefore, one clear area to invest in is the development of popular communication tools on laws and remedies and its mass distribution to those who need it.

The second project I engaged in was quite an interesting experience. We met with environmental experts to review the ill effects of certain mining areas in the island. It is where I personally saw how two disciplines converge – that of science and the law. The exchange of thoughts between scientists and lawyers made me see how one complements the other. Scientists provide the scientific facts and framework while the lawyers see to it that these facts are admissible as evidence in a court of law. Conversations between the law and other professions, as I saw, are important in developing sound and grounded policy. This has never been more pronounced in my experience with the group where the two worked together to build a solid case for the communities affected.

The third project I engaged in was a seminar-workshop on local governance and people’s participation with Indigenous Peoples around the country. I had the particular honor to deliver an input on the basic principles of local governance. I grabbed this opportunity since my background and personal advocacy deals with citizenship engagement in local governance. It was quite an exhilarating experience talking to older practitioners in this field. Aside from that altruistic feeling of sharing your knowledge, it was also an opportunity for me to learn from their experience with their LGUs. We synthesized in the end that prosperity indeed requires not only good leaders but good citizens as well. These citizens should demand good governance from their elected leaders. It is always a two-way process between state and state-actors. That is why we agreed in the end that civil society should effectively organize themselves politically in order to assert and influence the decision making processes of the government in their locality and counter the heavy weight of organized vested interests within or outside the bureaucracy.

Engaging the frontiers

Many would often lament why the legal profession is an overly celebrated one. Some argue that it does not deserve such public exaltations and admiration. Shakespeare seemed to agree when he called that all lawyers should be killed in order to save the country! Come to think of it, a lawyer does not add any direct value to the economic output of the nation. Engineers and scientists do. There may be some truth to this but as all professions, we are one cog in the bigger machine of nation building and my experience revealed to me where that cog is in the greater scheme of things.

Because of my experience immersing in Balaod Mindanaw, it has shown me the important place of the legal practice in the bigger tapestry of national development. This is the kind of practice that shuns posh and high-rise offices with big sloppy paychecks in favor of service to the poor and the marginalized. They go to the frontiers and to the places where no regular lawyer dreams of going. They go to the place where there is a greater need. They personify the saying “those who have less in life should have more in law”.

Hero-lawyers

I often picture alternative lawyers as courageous soldiers of the poor who fight in the court, in congress or in the streets - with them and for them. They do not only use the law, they will advocate changing it if it has lost its spirit. They do not only plow in tons of paper work, but they build and empower communities at the margins. Alternative lawyers do not see their “clients” as clients the way regular lawyers see it. Rather, they see them as partners in solving bigger social issues.

The thought that you can use your legal knowledge to liberate a person from the bondage of ignorance and oppression brings tremendous meaning and fulfillment in my studies. And seeing it first hand in my short stay in Balaod Mindanaw inspires me to even do more in my studies and preserve in my daily struggles in law school.

More than academic, my experience showed me that there are hero-lawyers in the world. They are private individuals serving a greater public good. They are the people committed to the works of justice in the face of insurmountable obstacles may it be in the form of corruption, intimidation, corporate greed, hopelessness or apathy.

The nation needs these kinds of people in practice and if we are serious in reforming our institutions, our law schools should give higher premium in this kind of orientation. That is the way forward.  Thank you Balaod Mindanaw!