Be louder voice of oppressed, lawyers told

As far as Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen is concerned law practitioners should use their positions to be a louder voice of the oppressed, in the midst of existential threats that lawyers face.

“We are here to make use of our positions to be a louder voice of the oppressed,” Justice Leonen said during his keynote speech in the 6th Leg Program for Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability Rollout in Angeles, Pampanga on 22 March 2024.

He said a good lawyer is someone who is grounded and aware of the social issues surrounding the world that we live in.

“We are only as good as our service toward the good of our people,” Justice Leonen said, adding that the core of lawyering is to provide access to justice.

Law practitioners was also challenged by the senior associate justice to restructure how they practice law and focus more on their various advocacies for marginalized groups.

He highlighted the process of public interest lawyering, which he said can be a way to develop legal partnership with their clients who have limited financial means.

“It also goes beyond the idea of lawyering as merely litigation,” he said, adding, “It also involves the use of legal knowledge to restructure or reform existing laws, rules, and regulations which remain unresponsive to developments in society.”

But Leonen admitted that not all lawyers are interested in practicing public interest lawyering because they are usually one of the poorest paid.

With this problem at hand, he urged the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to support the proposals to find alternative funding for public interest lawyers.