So for this summer, our class in Legal Forms required us to spend at least 40 hours on a paralegal job. After two weeks of barely going out of the house and simply waiting for the opportunity, my classmate Thea and I were finally referred by a friend to the office of Attorney Ben Cabrido and Associates. At first, we were really hesitant. Sir Ben was our teacher in Envi 2 and Nat Res and we could vividly remember him jokingly telling our class, after a really depressing exam turnout, that he doubts if one of us could get into his firm as he only accepts achievers and topnotchers. We were not offended, of course, as his works do speak for itself but to find ourselves at his office one really hot Friday afternoon, well, nervous would be an understatement. Thea and I were trying to reason between ourselves that working at Sir Ben's office was okay, that perhaps his comments about his firm and only accepting honor students was not applicable to paralegals, etc. I know we sounded scared as crap but we were desperate. Time was running out and though we did have a choice in the end, we decided to stick with Sir Ben's office.
On that otherwise normal but really hot Friday afternoon, we went about our way to Sir Ben's office in our best paralegalish outfit that we could think of (mostly from the advice of our friends who told us that jeans and shirts were a big No-no... we could understand that but that doesn't mean I was looking forward to that part) - slacks and a formal-looking blouse. I know we looked like clueless fresh grads who were out applying for their first job (and we kinda feel like it too) but what the hell, it was what it was and there's really no use complaining.
Upon getting to the office, three things struck me - the place, the dogs, and the people. First off, the place. I have to say that it was not what I expected. Given the big name that he is, Sir Ben's office was pretty obscure and understated. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but I guess the clueless in me was expecting lots of posters and pictures and slogans about the environment tacked on the wall, a tarp on the outside urging people to fight for this cause and what-nots, basically all those things that offices passionate about their causes usually looked like (at least from what I've experienced), and a big sign bearing the name of their office. There were none of those. No signs, no posters, no anything which basically had me questioning in my mind, why? Didn't they want to get their office recognized? Later on, I realized that when you have made a name for yourself doing what you believe in, there's really no use displaying your info anywhere in your place - your reputation precedes you, something that no amount of posters or signs in your office could make up for. People come to you because they know that you are good in your field. Simply put, your name/reputation speaks for yourself more than any poster or signs you put up.
Anyhoo, moving on, the dogs. Wow. I know law offices are pretty busy and are a no-nonsense kind of place but to see dogs lying on their receiving area and playing around kinda negates that presumption and it really surprised the hell out of me, which I like very much. Anyone who personally knows me would tell you how obsessed I am with dogs and how devoted I am to my Japanese Spitz. Seeing those dogs in the office really made my day. Honestly, I had doubts about working in Sir Ben's office as I know I'm very far from what you could refer to as a high-achieving law student much less a good one so I may have been way out of my league to even consider working there but what the hell, I was desperate. And a law office that let dogs roam around the place couldn't be that bad, right? Lol.
Lastly, the people. When we got there, the place seemed empty except for the dogs sleeping on the floor and the guy sitting behind the receiving table. The rest of the room was made up of cubicles and the silence had me thinking that nobody was there. Thank god there was Attty. Joan who accommodated us and gave us the surprise of our lives - first about dress codes and second, about impromptu hands-on fieldwork. First off, the dress code. In our slacks and formal-looking shirts, we really felt overdressed when we saw Atty. Joan's casual get-up - jeans and shirt. People always has this presumption that lawyers have to look formal and I guess, partly, they're right. But unless you have to appear in court or have a meeting with your client or your situation requires it, I believe even lawyers should be given a leeway as to how they want to dress while going about their work - if formal or business suits are your thing, no prob. If you want to dress down once in a while, no prob. If you prefer casuals, as long as you look decent, then no prob. But reality is, most lawyers dress up most of the time. Seeing Atty. Joan casually dressed was so refreshing and had me thinking that finally, I met a lawyer who's not into dressing up unless you have to, which really made me happy. That means I could wear jeans and shirt to work as long as what we would be doing does not require us to dress formally. Secondly, impromptu travels. We barely finished filling up our form when she asked us if we were down with going to Hilongos, Leyte the day after. Lol. That's like the most impromptu offer I have ever heard of in my life and hell yeah, I was more than down for it - I was excited. yoohoo!
Tuesday finally came and after a postponed schedule, we were finally Hilongos-bound. We arrived at around 2am but went down from the vessel only after an hour or two. We checked in into a pension house and by 9am, we were already attending meetings and getting briefed about the current situation of the case. By the afternoon, I interviewed my first ever would-be petitioners for their judicial affidavits. I talked to four people and listened to their plights. It was really heartbreaking to hear their stories and their reason why they wanted to file their case. Wednesday morning was okay until it eventually got more eventful by the evening. It started with one of the people I interviewed coming in to sign his affidavit but before he did so, he voiced out his concerns, how he's scared, for himself and for his family, of being harassed for going against the respondents who are big companies. He even asked for reassurance that he would not be shot. The realist in me wanted to say that that's a possibility but even I myself didn't want to believe that so I tried to reassure him haltingly, not believing my words but not wanting to spook him either. I told Atty. Joan about it but her words hit me like ice - we won't know what's gonna happen and getting shot is not out of the question as basically, the case we were filing involves big companies and millions of pesos worth of investments and a favorable judgment means this businesses have to be stopped. Waaaaaah! I felt so guilty but by evening, I felt a million times worse. Three of the four people I interviewed backed out. Their fears got validated when we found out that a recent shooting had occurred just last week and though we don't exactly know the reason, it's possible that it has got to do with the case about to be filed. holy fcuk. seriously? by this time, i wanted to cry already. what have i done? i basically just urged someone to file his ticket to probabilities which involves shooting and harassment. real world just dealt me a blow, something that really bothered me. hopefully, it's not true and these big companies would not resort to such. 😢
finally, by thursday, atty. cabrido arrived. he was really different from the person that he is inside the classroom. we could really tell by the way the people around us would hang on to his every word, how they would go out of their way to accommodate him, how they badly wanted to hear what he had to say, that atty. cabrido was indeed in his field of expertise. he knows what he was talking about and had no qualms about voicing his thoughts. he was intimidating and passionate about his cause. one thing that i really liked about his ways was the manner how he handled the situation around him - he speaks his mind and didn't wait for anyone to do his job. he moves in his own pace and doesn't let anyone dictate/detract him from what he is supposed to do. so people wanted him to talk to the public at the rally supporting his cause but he declined as that was not his role - he was there to file the case, as a lawyer for the petitioners. it was not his role to urge the people to join in the fight. nonetheless, that morning, i learned more about the legal profession more than i could ever hope to learn in a day - i learned to annex documents, i learned how to mail copies of the petition to respondents, i learned how to file a case. what was overwhelming about it though was the fact that there was intense public interest about the case that upon alighting from the van that took us to the RTC of Hilongos, there were lots of media people snapping pictures everywhere. there were also a couple hundred of people rallying their support outside the courthouse. lol. way to go for my first experience, huh?
finally, we made our way back to cebu. we took the trip at 11am and arrived at around 4pm.
all in all, it was my best learning experience ever. i got to see one of the best lawyer in his field do his thing, i got to make affidavits and talked to people and met a bunch of new ones. i barely got to see the places in Hilongos but learned so much, nonetheless. it was one hell of a trip and a really inspiring one to. looking forward to more experiences like that in the future.
P.S.
it was really funny to hear Sir Ben talk about his car, a Peugeot, about how nice it was and all, and that he could let us hitch a ride when he would bring it to work to know for ourselves how awesome the car was. hahahaha. he sounded like a kid showing off his toy. what makes it funnier was the fact that my friends and i, especially when waiting for our teachers in our classroom, would gaze down on the parking lot below and see if our teacher was coming. basically, we know almost all of our teachers' cars and Sir Ben's had always been a fave topic - how sick the ride is, how expensive it must have been, how nice it was, how to pronounce it. lol. finally, I got to hear him confirm them. lol
#bestexperienceever
p.s.s.
with all the new people that i've met, it made me wonder if there was indeed a purpose why we meet certain kinds of people along the way so briefly. i'm talking about this in general terms as my recent experience had only intensified this question that i have been asking all these years. just random thoughts and all 🐚
