Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Seares: Hurdling the bar
By Pachico A. Seares
News Sense
“The door to the bar swings on slow hinges.” — From a Supreme Court decision
TO be sure, the Supreme Court isn’t talking about that bar where one drinks beer, sings off-key, and gets a passing grade.
Admission to a karaoke bar, Japan’s most successful export since sushi, isn’t tough. One only needs some beer money and enough courage to sing in public.
Supreme Court’s bar is a lot harder. For one, the exams cover everything one must read in law school and a lot more, which requires prodigious memory. A bar reviewee groans, “I cannot read all this,” meaning tons of books and notes he is told to read and remember.
For another, the examinee can only guess the questions, which will depend upon bent and mood of the examiner who submits a list and the bar chairman who picks from it.
They can be obscure. The first-subject, first-Sunday question “What is Amparo?” stumped most examinees that year when their vague idea of Amparo was someone like Aida, Lorna, or Fe.
Mean
Questions can be tricky: “Who owns an island?” That tripped examinees who forgot that an island can be on lake, river, or sea and can be formed by man or nature.
And they are mean too: “Explain doctrine of Rabatitat.” That wasn’t asked at the bar. One law teacher made that up, as spoof on cruelty of some bar questions.
Bar results don’t guarantee that those who passed (a) really know the law, (b) can speak and write clearly and logically, and (c) will be ethical ... aw, shucks, forget (c).
Those who are already lawyers want the bar to stay tough — until they have a child, wife, or girlfriend taking the exams.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 31, 2008 issue)
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