First Person: What I've learned as a bar examiner

This piece was originally posted on the author's Facebook page. It is republished with permission.

 

I've always wanted to do three "bucket list" things as a lawyer; I'm happy I've been able to do the first two before I'm too old to appreciate the achievement: 1) as an advocate, to argue before the Supreme Court, which I've done many times; (2) as a teacher, to be bar examiner, which I've done now.

 

By now, of course, it has been revealed that I was the examiner in the "hardest" exam of the 2014 bar examinations — criminal law. What has not been revealed is that it was also the exam where the most people passed.

 

The hardest part of the experience was to keep a straight face when I heard people who had taken the 2014 bar examinations complain that the criminal law exam was the hardest of the eight subjects they were tested on. And it was a familiar refrain, even from my former students who had taken criminal law under me. My stock answer was a neutral "really?" or a deceptively misleading "Oh well, of course you know that the Chairman of the Bar (Justice Peralta) is an expert in criminal law."

 

The second hardest part of the experience was checking the 5,984 notebooks. It was eye-straining and back breaking but it was also, ultimately, heart-wrenching. More than the physical strain, I think it was the thought that a failing grade in criminal law could actually un-make the future of some examinee who was probably his family's best hope to become a lawyer; on the other hand, this feeling was tempered by the practical realisation that not everyone is cut out to be a lawyer and the reason precisely a licensing exam like the bar exists is to firmly give a reality check to those who really shouldn't become lawyers. 

 

That realisation made the checking even more difficult because while it was tempting to simply look for key words and phrases and just put all answers in a neat box, I decided not to do that. I decided that I wanted to use a grading curve (which would be more beneficial to examinees) and I wanted to read all the answers. That probably accounted for the increased number of those who passed the subject, though not necessarily the bar; it also made the pace of checking infinitely slower.

 

What this experience has taught me is to never complain about checking 40 notebooks in two weeks because you never know when you will be asked to check 5,948 in barely four months. What it also has taught me is that, looking at the crowd yesterday waiting eagerly for the results, a life-altering power vested in one, such as giving a law graduate a passing or failing mark, isn't to be taken lightly and that while reason and logic have a place, compassion and empathy also do.

 

For the batch of 2014 who might read this, be fair, do good, and work justice and know that, as you become lawyers, all three are never done but are part of an ongoing struggle and that what counts is not only the fruit but also the pursuit. Congratulations! See you in court.

 

PS. I mentioned three "bucket list" things at the start of this post, here's the third: (3) as a Supreme Court geek and fan, to listen to the Notorious RBG and Nino Scalia spar in open court, which I hope to do in their lifetimes.

 

Theodore Te is the Assistant Court Administrator and Public Information Office Chief of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.