LEX PARETO NOTES – Is there a pattern to Philippine Bar Exams?

According to some bar revew centers, there is. And they call it the Lex Pareto Notes, using the Pareto principle. Thanks to Atty. Zodiac and Atty. Pareto for contributing this info in the original Pinoylaw.com Message board.

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LEGAL ETHICS

Did you know that 34 % of the bar exams in legal ethics for the past 15 years, is taken from the Code of professional responsibility ?

Did you know that 78 % of the questions asked in the Code of Professional responsibility comes from Chapter 1 and Chapter 4 of said code ?

Did you know that out of 52 questions taken from the Rules of court, 29 are asked from RULE 138 for the past 15 years ?

Did you know that the “COMPLAINT” is the most favorite form asked in PRACTICAL EXERCISES, and that it has been asked for 20 times in the past 15 years ?

CRIMINAL LAW

Did you know that 77 % of the criminal law exam is taken from the revised penal code, 19 % from Special penal laws and other matters compose only 4 %

Observations on book 2 of the revised Penal code:

Book 2 has a total of 253 articles of which only 75 are asked (About 30 %)

These 75 Articles are asked 211 times

Out of the 211 times these articles were asked 178 (84 %) were taken from those articles that were asked at least twice.

The most asked crime was on murder, followed by homicide, estafa, robbery with violence against persons.

REMEDIAL LAW

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON QUESTIONS TAKEN FROM CIVIL PROCEDURE FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS:

1.) Civil procedure has 56 Rules. Out of these 56 Rules, 33 were asked.

2.) About 150 questions were taken out of these 33 Rules

3.) Of the 150 questions asked, 82 % were derived from only 14 Rules.

4.) These 14 Rules represents only 25 % of the total number of rules in Civil
procedure.

5.) The most asked article was on Rule 9 entitled “Effect of failure to plead” followed by Rule 6 “Pleadings”, Rule 3 “Parties to a civil action”, Rule 2 “Cause of action”, Rule 39 “Execution of judgment” and so on. It can be noticed that there is a very good reason why such rules were those that were frequently asked. These rules walks you to the process of a civil action. (Pleadings, parties, cause of action etc.)

CIVIL LAW

Did you know that the most asked book in the Civil law exam is Book 4 ? Book 4 (Obligations and contracts, Special contracts) consist of about 46 % of the exam in civil law ?

Did you know that 14 % of the questions asked in book 4 is about obligations ?

Did you know that 77 % of the questions taken from Book 1 are taken from the Family code ?

TAXATION

Income taxation, Remedies and General principles constitutes 85 % of the exam in taxation for the past 7 years.

MERCANTILE LAW

The corporation code, Negotiable instrument, Insurance code, securities regulation code, transportation laws, banking laws, maritime commerce and the civil code make up 85 % of the exams on mercantile law.
The other 15 % is composed of other special laws namely:

Asked more 9 times or more for the past 15 years:

– Intellectual property law
– Bulk sales law
– Insolvency law
– Chattel mortgage law
– Retail trade liberalization law

Asked less than 5 times for the past 15 years:

– Trust receipts law
– Letters of credit
– Anti-dummy act
– Flag law
– Electric power industry reform act
– Public service law
– Foreign investment act
– Investor’s lease act
– Constitution
– Other applied provisions of the code of commerce.

So what does the “Pareto principle” really mean ?

The 80/20 Rule means that in everything there is a “vital a few” (20 percent) that results in the “trivial many” (80 percent) For Pareto it meant 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth. In Juran’s work he identified 20 percent of the defects causing 80 percent of the problems Project managers know that about 20 percent of the work consume 80 percent of time and resources. 80 percent of company sales will come from 20 percent of the sales people. 20 percent of the employee will cause 80 percent of the problems. The 80/20 Rule applies to almost anything, from management to science. So why can’t we apply it in preparations for the bar exam?

How can observing the Pareto principle in the bar exam help you ?

The value of the Pareto Principle for a bar candidate is that it reminds you where to focus your study on. Of all the laws that you have studied and read, only 20 percent really matter in the bar exams. Those 20 percent make up 80 percent of the bar exam questions. With this in mind a bar candidate should spend 80 % of his time studying the vital 20 %.

Some people say that we should not study hard but that we should study hard. Definitely that is true, however we should remember that it is more important to study smart on the right things.

Does the bar exam have a pattern ?

“Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the Old One. I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.” – Albert Einstein

Whether we agree or not, we live in a world of order. Our world follows a set of rules and principles. The sun and moon just does not rise and set randomly, it follows a certain pattern. Seasons goes through certain cycles. What goes up must come down, and for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.

Even how chaotic a system might be, there is always a certain “order” to it. Einstein’s quote above is often paraphrased as “God does not play dice with the universe”

To recognize the existence of such patterns and to make use of them will be certainly to our advantage.

In our study of law it cannot be denied that the preparations for the bar exams is given primordial concern. Preparing for the bar is not an easy task. Wouldn’t it be great if we would know in advance what particular article or subject area we should study? Is it even possible to know this?

The answer may be a yes or no. The science of probability and statistics is not an exact science. However it more or less gives us a general idea on things on what would be, though not what should be.

For this reason a group of lawyers and law students has developed a five volume reviewer for the bar exams called the “LEX PARETO NOTES”

What is the “Lex Pareto notes” and why call is called such ?

A famous bar reviewer once said, that only 25 % of the articles in the Civil code are going to be asked in the bar exams. The rest of the 75 % will never be asked or if they will be, they will seldom be asked. He quipped “Magiging ka tawa-tawa ang bar exam pag kinuha sa 75 % sa civil code ang mga questions.”

Prof. Abelardo Domondon, a very well known bar reviewer said that he topped the bar because he studied the previous bar exam questions and saw a “pattern” in the questions that are being asked. He even showed evidence concerning this matter.

This is what the Lex Pareto Notes is all about. The Lex Pareto Notes is based on the foundation laid down by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. If Pareto were alive today he could say that 20 % of the law are the questions that will most likely be asked in the bar exams, while approximately 80 % of it will rarely be asked or never asked at all.

Who is Pareto anyway ?

Vilfredo Pareto is an Italian economist. In 1906 he observed that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. Through that he created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country. After Pareto made his observation and created his formula, many others observed similar phenomena in their own areas of expertise. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran a quality management pioneer based in the U.S attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto’s Principle. Dr. Juran reduced this universal principle into writing and gave another term for it the “Vital few, trivial many” principle.

So what does the “Pareto principle” really mean ?

The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial. For Pareto it meant 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth. In Juran’s work he identified 20 percent of the defects causing 80 percent of the problems Project managers know that about 20 percent of the work consume 80 percent of time and resources. 80 percent of company sales will come from 20 percent of the sales people. 20 percent of the employee will cause 80 percent of the problems. The 80/20 Rule applies to almost anything, from management to the science. So why can’t we apply it in preparations for the bar exam?

How can observing the Pareto principle in the bar exam help you ?

The value of the Pareto Principle for a bar candidate is that it reminds you where to focus your study on. Of all the laws that you have studied and read, only 20 percent really matter in the bar exams. Those 20 percent make up 80 percent of the bar exam questions. With this in mind, a bar candidate should spend 80 % of his time studying the vital 20 %.

Some people say that we should not study hard but that we should study hard. Definitely that is true, however we should remember that it is more important to study smart on the right things.

The five volume work contains, graphs, statistics on how many times a question has been asked on a particular article. It will point out the applicability of the Pareto law in the bar exam questions. It also discusses the doctrines that were asked in the bar exams. The first four volumes corresponds to the subjects that will be given for the 4 Sundays of the bar exams. Volume 1 will be on Political law and Labor law. Volume 2 will be on Civil law and TAXATION. Volume 3 will be about Mercantile law and Criminal law while Volume 4 will be on Remedial law and Legal Ethics and Practical exercises. Volume 5 will be all about bar questions from 1990 to 2006 and other information on bar preparations.

For more information on where to buy the LEX PARETO NOTES 2007 edition and other information check out their website at www.lexparetonotes.8m.com.

REFERENCE:

Pinoylaw.com Message Board

 

Practical Suggestions on How to Pass the Philippine Bar Exam

 Practical Suggestions on How to Pass the Bar
by John P. Virgino

Graduation for law students is so anti-climactic. As if the spartan life we have lived the past four years is not enough, we still have to gear up and march to the Coliseum and wage an even greater battle. The fight is filled with uncertainties, for when we step into the ring, we are on our own. There is no assurance that we would emerge as victorious Gladiators cheered upon by the crowd, or be the next Happy Meal for the royal lions.

The first thing a reviewee must do is to accept this reality. Studying for the bar is one big marshmallow test. It would entail a drastic change in habit and lifestyle. Sacrifices must be made. The sooner you accept it, the better you could cope with the bar exam’s demands and challenges.

As Sun Tzu once said, the art of war includes knowing ones enemy. The number one enemy that a bar reviewee must confront is his fear – of the unknown, the anxiety as to what lies ahead. It is human to fear what one doesn’t understand. So, the main goal of this exercise is to help you understand what the bar is. I hope this article could serve as a map that would aid you conquer the bar’s perilous terrain.

The tips contained herein are not foolproof. Its objective is modest-it is simply to pass the bar. Most of the suggestions contained here were culled from my experience. However, to give it some credibility, I also included the effective habits of fellow reviewees, as well as sound advice from previous topnotchers (Macel and Raj).

I. PREPARING FOR THE BAR

· Set your goals and devise your own strategy on how to do it. When you have no gameplan, you simply conform and follow what the others are doing. This can be dangerous.

· Strategize and maximize. Follow the Pareto principle. Each one is given more or less the same amount of time to study. You must be able to manage your scarce resources. Concentrate on your critical few, the 20% input that would produce 80% of your output.

· Organize your materials ahead of time. Buy the right books and review materials.

Political Law -Outline by Nachura
Labor Law- Azucena’s Everybody’s Labor Code and Alcantara
Civil- Jurado
Taxation -Dan Calica’s Reviewer
Commercial -Miravite/Villanueva
Criminal -Ortega Notes
Remedial -Regalado
Legal Ethics -Aguirre

STARTER KIT

a good and sturdy bookstand
a good lamp, white light
a cubicle made from illustration boards, this would give you privacy and minimize distractions (for student lounge people)
earplugs, to block off noise. It also sends a signal to noisy co-reviewees to shut-up
vitamins/supplements
notebook, index cards
a good supply of highlighters
post-its. The tags can be used to divide the material, which can mark your goal for the day. By breaking the books into parts, it makes reading more manageable.
II. STUDYING FOR THE BAR

· Master the codal provisions. This is a minimum requirement. You can never go wrong with this strategy.

· Manage your time according to the weight of the subject. Not all bar subjects are created equal.

· Prepare a tentative schedule for your bar review.

· Adjust your body clock. Sleep early, start early. Some reviewees even go to the extent of simulating the bar month by making Monday their rest day (since Mondays are brain-dead days during September)

· Have a study buddy so that you can have a benchmark. This would help pace yourself, giving you the extra push to study. Your study buddy must have good study habits. She need not be your girlfriend.

· Learn the art of answering the bar. Study how bar questions are phrased and how it should be answered.

The bar questions are crafted differently from the usual law exams we have. Look at the Suggested Answers published by the UP Law Center. Some questions repeat over time so make sure you get the survey of bar questionnaires to concentrate on areas, which are favorite sources of questions.

· While studying for the bar, take down notes and prepare your mnemonics. Whether we like it or not, the bar is a memory game, and there is no substitute for memorizing.

· Emphasis should be made on the quality of your study time and not the amount of hours you spend studying. Don’t be obsessed with the number of pages you read in a day. The problem with being obsessed with the number of readings is that you are tempted to postpone your understanding of the material since at the back of your mind, you intend to second and third read it any way. Next thing you know, it is already bar month and you’ll be cramming all the information in your head.

· Read to understand and not for the sake of simply reading. Reading can become a mechanical exercise. Most reviewees brag that they have read their bar materials three times. Don’t be alarmed. Some read faster than the others. However, speed-reading should not be done at the expense of comprehension. It is better to have one good reading than have three lousy readings.

· Less is more. One important faux pas to avoid is the temptation of reading a lot of materials. We have this thinking that five months should be spent reading all the materials we can get. Anything less would make us feel guilty and insecure. You may read all you want, but remember that you should not spread yourself too thinly. The truth is, the bar is composed of only 30-40 questions per subject. You must be conscious of the fact that the examiner will grade you solely on the basis of the way you answer these questions. The fact that you read all the commentaries would be immaterial.

· Practice good handwriting skills. This is important. Your exam may be readable to your law professor, considering that he is checking around fifty bluebooks. Imagine multiplying it by one hundred. Bar examiners are humans too. Their patience could be equated as inversely proportional to the number of bluebooks they will be checking. The bar examiner might not have the forebearance to decipher your encrypted hieroglyphics.

III. CAVEATS

· Learn the proper way of highlighting materials, since you will re-read the materials. Highlight only the important words and phrases. Avoid highlighting everything since it defeats the very purpose of highlighting in the first place.

· Read carefully. Don’t accept everything you read as gospel truths. There are a lot of errors that you need to correct in your reading materials. Also, make sure that the law you are reading is udpated.

· Avoid the Maricon virus (the syndrome of photocopying all the materials that one can get his hands into. A tribute to Maricon, the xerox empress) like the plague. The next time someone flash you a candidate material, think twice. Inspect the materials carefully and determine if you truly need it, or whether you will be able to read it. Photocopied materials give us a false sense of security. We justify this photocopying spree saying that you need the option of being able to read it if your time permits it. The danger lies in the fact that if we have too many materials at hand, it might overwhelm us and reduce us into a state of helplessness. It also make us lose our focus. Added to this, is the sense of inadequacy if we failed to finish our ambitious reading list.

· Rumors are just rumors. In the duration of the bar review (even after), be wary of the rumors that would spread. One example is that you will hear that this person is the examiner, so the next step you will take is to ask if he has written a book so that you can buy it. We have this standing theory that the one responsible for spreading these rumors are the book publishers who wants to increase their book sales. Don’t believe these rumors! Be aware of the fact that you are extremely vulnerable as a reviewee. Withhold belief even when the person tells you that the information comes from a “very reliable source.” With respect to knowing who the examiner is, don’t preoccupy yourself with it. As a co-examinee bluntly puts it, in spite of the fact that we know our law professors, we still could not predict the questions that they ask during finals. This is the same case with the bar examiners.

· Hot tips are not hot, even if they are stamped confidential. Tips are overrated and you should take it with a grain of salt. It caters to a reviewee’s psychological need, a placebo. Even if you did not receive any hot tips, don’t despair. You can do good without it, maybe do even better.

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS

· Should you enroll in the bar review classes? Well this is open to debate. I enrolled in the bar review classes because my philosophy then was never to shortchange my review. I told myself that six thousand pesos might spell the difference between passing and failing. Enrolling would preclude me from blaming myself, in the unfortunate event that I fail, thinking that I would have passed if only I enrolled myself. However, I was disappointed with the way review classes were conducted. The lectures could be boring and slow at times. Listening is a skill, it drains too much energy and takes too much of your time. Sometimes, you will be deluded into believing that your understanding mirrors that of the lecturer. Your option would be to just borrow the materials from a co-reviewee and have it photocopied. Take time to sift through the materials and segregate the materials you think might be useful.

· Should you billet yourself in a hotel? I talked to my classmates who did not stay in hotel and they said that they were more relaxed. If you decide to stay home, think of these two things:

a. how to receive the tips (if you still think it is indispensable) b. how to get to the examination area on time (6 am ideal)

If you decide to stay in a hotel, I suggest that you don’t share a room, to minimize movements and distractions.

· Study in the student lounge. Personally, I think my stay there has helped me pass the bar. The daily interaction with fellow reviewees, the jokes, small talks and power naps form part of the student lounge experience. It has definitely kept my head above water in those grueling five months. There, we found humor in our collective misery.

· Exercise. It is normal to gain weight during the bar review. We reviewees use eating as a mechanism to deal with tremendous stress. I eat five full meals during the bar, excluding merienda, because I used eating as an excuse not to study. Don’t worry, you will shed the unwanted fats after the bar review (I did say my advice is not foolproof right?) To deal with this, some co-reviewees enrollled in gym classes. Others simply jog around the academic oval. Exercise improves blood and oxygen circulation, even when it only means a walk to the vendo machine.

· In the duration of the review, pamper yourself once in a while. This is part of stress management, to combat the possibility of burnout.

V. IMPORTANT REMINDERS

· During the night before the exam, try to get a good night rest. Bubble bath. Drink a warm chocolate. · Ask someone (your bar buddy) to prepare your food. Grab a sliced Subway so that you can eat and read in the afternoon within La Salle.

· Be sure to bring all the papers (exam permits, I.D). It is suggested that you buy a transparent envelope and hang it in your neck (with a fancy ID holder) so that you won’t lose these important documents. This is simple but this would be very helpful, as it would reduce unnecessary stress.

· Bring a jacket or umbrella.

· Do not bring your celphones inside La Salle and avoid the hassle of depositing it.

· Go to La Salle early to avoid the madness in the hotel lobby. Know in advance which gate you would have to go to.

· Choose the materials you think you have to read in the interim before the exam. Bring only these materials, lest you want to subject yourself to a panic attack. Remember, you need to relax yourself.

· Never leave your blue book, switching is not a remote possibility

· Bring mineral water, sweets/chocolates as brain boosters during the exam.

VI. DURING THE BAR EXAM

The thirty minutes before the exam after the proctor told us to bring our things in front was really nerve-wracking. Imagine staring blankly at your co-examinees and whispering to yourself that the minutes could have been productively used reading codal provisions.

· After the distribution of the exam questionnaire, scan the questions. Compute the number of questions and allocate your time accordingly. Remember that it is okay if you feel you don’t know the answer. This is the so-called information rush. Breathe and allow things to settle down.

· In answering bar questions, take a deep solid breath and process the question. Be responsive and try to answer clearly and directly. Cite legal provisions or case law to support your arguments. If you don’t know the exact provision, cite a provision that you think comes close. It is rare that you know all the answers to the questions, don’t fret. In the event that you don’t know the answer, guess, but support it with legal arguments or case law. Use good English to mask your ignorance. My experience with the bar is that even if I know the answer, I had difficulty answering because I wanted to craft and formulate my answer in the best possible way. Be conscious of time, make sure to start writing, never mind if it is not as grand as you initially wanted it to be.

· Skip questions you are not sure of the answers. Just be sure to get back to it. Review your answers, make sure you answered all the questions sequentially.

VII. AFTER THE BAR EXAM

· Learn how to compartmentalize. Even if you didn’t do well in one exam, don’t despair. Don’t let the bad feeling affect your performance in the next exam, otherwise it will not only be one subject you will have to worry about. I avoided discussion of answers with fellow reviewees. It is cathartic for some but it is depressing for most. I personally believe that the exercise is very counter-productive. It only depresses us more to know that our classmates were able to eloquently answer the questions we thought was difficult. Often, our co-reviewee approached the legal problem from a different angle and we tend to blame ourselves for failing to see it the way he did.

· Be contented with your answers. You have already submitted your bluebook have already done everything from your end. It is already up to the examiner to appreciate your answers. It is futile to feel sorry. Sure you could have answered better but it is sad that it always seems to dawn only after you submitted the booklet. Remember that given the limited time we had, we may have failed to give our best and most rational answer. The ratio of last clear chance comes to mind.

· Sweet Surrender. Pray and trust in the Lord Almighty. As a friend puts it, the bar is a humbling experience. It is impossible to control all the factors that would guarantee our passing the bar. Undergoing the bar experience makes us more keenly aware of our limitations as human beings. Within the limited time we have, we can only study and prepare so much. I believe that there is more to the bar than the bar questions we need to answer. The real exam is surviving the four Sundays without cracking from the tremendous pressure the whole exercise brings. In the course of writing this article, I may have committed some mistakes, grammatical or otherwise – my apologies. For whatever this article might lack in logic and coherence, is made up for with a genuine and sincere desire to help you hurdle and pass the bar.

Goodluck to all of you!

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Taken from Pinoylaw.com Message Board.

http://p082.ezboard.com/bpinoylaw74510.showUserMgr?language=EN

 

In memoriam: Pinoylaw.com

It was 1994 when Internet came into Cagayan de Oro City. We have to dial-up to Xavier University.

That time, we were starting to build simple websites using notepad, and our favorite browser was Netscape 1.0.

In 1996, I joined a Telecoms company and there, with unlimited internet, i started to improve my website development skills. I built a fledgling intranet that got the attention of the President. Needless to say, in 2000, i was promoted to lead a ‘start-up’ group to build the company’s capability in developing commercial websites along the B2B and e-commerce concept.

Thus start the development of various of website projects (dating website, online HR portal, Online procurement system), and my baby: Pinoylaw.com.

I think it was the first domain name we registered under the company’s Internet Value-Added Services (IVAS) business, and the first domain to be hosted in our fledgling web server, other than our own corporate domain.

Birth Pains

The concept for Pinoylaw.com is to develop it into an online portal for Filipinos to access confidential/membership-only/minimal-fee legal advice. The problem is, the company does not want to pay royalty to lawyers who will serve as legal advisor, and there is the issue of how to accept payments online (No paypal then).

This ambivalence from the company stymied the progress of Pinoylaw.com

A month after and still no support, i decided to adopt Pinoylaw.com and turn it into a ‘legal information’ website, linking other sites with Philippine law-related articles, and some worldwide law-related information/trivia. Too busy with other projects and Law school, i just made Pinoylaw.com a ‘repository’ of links to all legal sites i can find in the internet.

I created the first logo in a hurry using a Microsoft clipart. (Unfortunately, i do not have with me the original logo.)

Then i started a web campaign for cross-linking with other websites, especially Philippine schools. I think Silliman University was the first to accept the link using the original logo. I also registered Pinoylaw.com in various search engines, but i put my campaign efforts with Yahoo and Google.

However, in 2002, the company underwent another change in management that put a stop to our web projects. By then, Pinoylaw.com is due to expire from the company’s charge, so i used my own credit card to renew the domain and acquire ownership.

I still did not pursue commercialization of the website since i haven’t made up my mind whether I will join the web-biz bandwagon or remain a hobbyist. I choose the latter. And so Pinoylaw.com remained ads-free and I have to renew it yearly.

I badly wanted a new logo but my in-house graphics designer couldn’t give me a desirable logo. Finally, by stroke of luck, i met a professional computer-based graphics artist named Melvin (he is now in Oman). He wanted to get an internet connection and would like us to host his propose website. I told Melvin about ‘my’ own website and the need for professional logo. He said he will make one for me. And sure he did.

I made a redesign of the front page of Pinoylaw.com to introduce the new logo. And finally, the new Pinoylaw.com:

Pinoylaw.com – “Your Window to Philippine Legal Information and Solutions”

Description: “A Philippine-based website offering free legal advice online and vast links to Philippine law information.”

Pro-bono lawyers

Then i met Atty. Francis Ku, a young lawyer in CDO who also served us the company’s retainer legal consultant. I told Atty. Ku about my desire to provide ‘free’ legal assistance online using Pinoylaw.com. Atty. Ku agreed to do pro-bono legal advice for Pinoylaw.com.

I am not sure if we are the first website to offer such free legal advice online. But we surely are the first to give a confidential legal advice.

After Atty Ku, other lawyers actually applied to provide pro-bono services. One lawyer was from a prominent Makati-based law firm who once served as Mercantile Law examiner in 2004 (I think) Bar exam. There was also a lady corporate lawyer from a big bank base in its Makati main mffice. Another volunteer lawyer came from Quezon Province. Our company’s junior lawyer in Makati also briefly served Pinoylaw.com.

But it was Atty. Ku who stuck it out with Pinoylaw.com till I lost the website. The success of the free legal advice in the website could have not been possible if not for the pro-bono services of Atty. Ku. My million thanks to him.

I sent a letter to the webmaster of the Supreme Court website recommending a letter of commendation for Atty Ku. But I guess it was lost in the jumble of emails there.

Free legal advice

The free legal advice portion of the website was its biggest draw. We averaged 9 posts a day, but our highest was 15 posts in a day. 60% of the queries/requests for legal advice fell under Marriage and Family relations (separation, annulment, inheritance, paternity).

It was quite astonishing how many Filipino couples wanted to end their marriage for a variety of reasons. I think the underlying message of these distressed couples is that it is better to annul the marriage and separate rather than hurt each other and the children by continuing to live together.

Plenty of queries also for criminal cases (inc. BP 22, credit card, estafa), Civil cases (damages, contracts), Real Estate (esp. partition, lease, sale, rent law), labor & employment, and commercial law issues.

Majority of those who registered in Pinoylaw.com came from Metro Manila. But there is also large number of inquiries from overseas Filipinos, especially on marital, property, and finance-related cases.

Message Board

Since my development team has been disbanded the following year, I was force to create a Pinoylaw.com discussion board from a free provider in the internet. This message board remained active till these days, although a hacking attack on the provider’s server cause much of pinoylaw.com’s discussions to disappear (wiped-out) including the banner logo. http://p082.ezboard.com/bpinoylaw74510

Unfortunately, I forgot the admin log-in and access and now the message board is being spammed mercilessly.

Recognition

There was one time Pinoylaw.com was nominated for Philippine Webby Awards.

Also, Pinoylaw.com was featured in Philippine Star Online.

Notable Links from the Supreme Court website (prior to recent design) and Silliman University.

I also got email from Filipinos, home and abroad, thanking the website for the free legal advice service.

In Memoriam

In May 2006, in my quest to become an overseas worker, I totally forgot to renew Pinoylaw.com, and promptly, an American domain hijacker took over and registered the domain name in his name.

I had the chance last March 24, 2008, but the guy beat me to it to register the site:

WHOIS result:

Domain servers in listed order:

NS1.REVENUEDIRECT.COM
NS2.REVENUEDIRECT.COM

Record created on: 2000-03-24 01:45:58.0
Database last updated on: 2008-03-14 21:01:30.927
Domain Expires on: 2009-03-24 01:45:58.0

Registry Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Status: clientUpdateProhibited

I guess I will never regain the domain name back. I am thinking of creating a new domain to serve same purpose.

Even though Pinoylaw.com never attained commercial success, but the fact that it was able to provide adequate legal advices to Filipinos, home and abroad, was already a success story for me.

REFERENCES:

 If you search for ‘pinoylaw.com’ in Google, it will give you the following selected links: 

http://p082.ezboard.com/bpinoylaw74510 

http://www.paralegalgateway.com/lawyerjokes.html

http://www.alllaw.com/international/http://www.pinoysites.org/phil529.htm

http://www.filipinolinks.com/Society/Legal_Resources/more3.html

http://www.washlaw.edu/forint/asia/philippine.html

http://www.gov.ph/forum/thread.asp?rootID=57849&catID=9http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/law/lig_primary.html

http://www.philippines.com.au/cgi-bin/global/tseekdir.cgi?location=Root-Government_and_Politics-Philippine_Laws&st=15&nd=20 

http://www.gov.ph/forum/thread.asp?rootID=8078&catID=9http://www.alleba.com/Government/Law/ 

http://www.hanappinoy.com/philippines/pinoy/9.html

http://www.yehey.com/search/categories.aspx?c=811

http://find.yuku.com/find/communities?q=+legal

http://www.pinoysites.org/phil40.htm

http://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/forum/archive.php?Saang+forum+ka+pa+member%3F/3642 

http://find.yuku.com/find/communities?q=+legal    

2007 Bar Exams News and Bar Exams-related stories: 

http://www.supremecourt.gov.ph/news/courtnews%20flash/2008/03/03290801.php

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080330-127231/I-just-wanted-to-pass-says-bar-topnotcher

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080329-127171/Regalados-967-remains-unsurpassed-in-RP-bar-exams-history 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080329-127168/First-bar-exam-in-RP-held-in-1901-with-13-test-takers