New lawyers to take oath today

PASSERS of the 2023 Bar Examinations will take their oath and sign the Roll of Attorneys today, the Supreme Court (SC) said yesterday.

The oath taking and signing of the roll will be held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. It is the last formal act before law students become full-fledged lawyers.

“Friday, December 22, 2023, will mark a special day in the legal profession. For the first time in the history of the Bar Examinations, the new lawyers will take their oath as members of the Bar and sign the Roll of Attorneys in the same ceremonies,” the SC said.

“The inductees will be the first batch of lawyers who have complied with the Clinical Legal Education Program requirement (CLEP) for admission to the Bar, which was pushed by then Associate Justice, now Chief Justice, Alexander Gesmundo during the 2019 Legal Education Summit as one of the major Bar reforms of the Court,” the SC added.

The reforms are part of the SC’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027.

Some 3,812 out of the 10,387 who completed the 2023 Bar examination passed the three-day test. This translates to a passing rate of 36.77 percent.

This year’s batch was topped by University of Sto. Tomas law graduate Ephraim Porciuncula Bie with a score of 89. 2625 percent.

The exams were held at 14 local testing centers nationwide on September 17, 20, and 24, and the results were released last December 5.