Court Visit Observation (UY)

NIEL ROBERT UY
Court: Regional Trial Court Branch 18

Date: November 16, 2018
Time of Observation: 8:30 AM
A. What is the incident/proceeding about (arraignment, motion hearing, presentation of witness, pre-
trial, preliminary conference, etc.)?
It was an arraignment of the case People of the Philippines vs. Jayson Cabatingan Umpad for
Illegal Possession of Firearms and Ammunition
B. Comment on the interaction that the lawyer(s) has/have with the judge, opposing counsel, parties,
witnesses and/or court personnel.
Everybody in the trial court were friendly. It’s as if all the people within the four corners of the
room were old friends that prior to the moment the judge went to his seat, all the lawyers that I saw were
talking with each other like no court proceedings were to happen. This is, of course, with the opposing
private parties as an exception, who were all silent and in gloom at the same time. I was then
flabbergasted when I found out that all the lawyers who were laughing and talking with each other right
before the hearing were from opposing parties.
All incidents that took place in that court were very informal and that the judge was nonetheless,
undisturbed about it. I would have expected a strict compliance with the interactions amongst the
individuals of the courts, especially amidst formal proceedings. In every proceeding that we witnessed
before us, the defendant-lawyers and the prosecutor himself glanced at each other’s files where one is
reading from during the hearing. It was very informal and that I was very disappointed as reality TV shows
never showed this kind of scene. I was expecting very angry lawyers shouting at each other at the top of
their lungs, never allowing one from bullying the other.
C. What are your observations, critique and learnings from the activity?
It was a refreshing experience for me. Everything that I witnessed during those court proceedings
were all new and that all the circumstances I expected were not met at all. My expectations were high
prior to such court visit.
Most of the conversations that took place were informal. The prosecutor would at times forget
what he would like to utter so he would just read everything in paper. He was always in a hurry gasping
for air every single time he spoke, unsure of what document to glance at in the table full of cases he was
to handle for the rest of the morning.
Lawyers were just old colleagues tired of seeing each other in the hallways of that building.
Compromise agreements, I presume, were made before the hearing. They would converse with clients
and litigators alike prior to the proceedings. This would only confirm the rumors I’ve heard that lawyers
were to agree about how the cases were to pursue even right before any case was filed especially those
law practitioners that were already friends for a long time and incidentally, they get to be against each
other in particular cases. However, it would be undisputable that the lawyers in that court were all relaxed
and that no tension ever occurred the whole time we were there. It would be as if, every litigator was very
confident and used to their jobs of solving other people’s problems.
D. What can you say about litigation or trial practice and the competencies needed to thrive and
succeed in said field?
Litigation is complicated. It requires skills that law school would have you prepared, but triple the
execution. There is a wide gap of differences between real practice and law school. Law school would
have you prepare the explanation to principles and cases and you’ll be good enough or you just go cry
yourself to sleep if you flunk. On the other hand, the practice of law would render every single thing you
do as a crucial step to winning your case. One wrong step would crumble your foundations to your case,
and the next thing you know, your career.
Hence, being ready is a key to real practice of law. Application to what we learn in law school is
different as to explaining it in front of your professor. Once a lawyer is ready even before litigation, he
would know the things he would then do amidst trial. I have observed some lawyers who were not good
in explaining things their way that they would have to still read their document just to clarify their point.
It was too painful to watch and at the same time, a familiar scene. You could really tell how smoothly a
hearing would be when lawyers are more than ready about what they would want to present before the
court and that impressed me.

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NIEL ROBERT UY

Court: Regional Trial Court Branch 18

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