: Dear Popoy. When you asked me, about a month ago, booke that you could read to start studying law, to prepare the list because I felt you would be wasting your time studying law in thie “new society. loathe I am still not sure that it would be worth your while to de so. A few days ago, while chatting with a soldier, he eked, in all seriousness and sincerity, “Pero sir, kailangan pa ba ang mga abogado ngayon?” And in a way that perhape he did net intend, he raised a perfectly valid question. A lswyer lives in and by law: and there is no law when society is ruled, not by reason. but by will--worse. by the will of one man. er strives for justice: and thereis no justice thout guilt, but Als: when men and women sre imprisoned not only without trial. there is no freedom when conformity eriticisn need by foi A lawyer builds on gacts. He must seek truth; and there is no truth when facts are suppressed, news is manipulated and charges are fabricated. Worse, when the constitution is invoked to justify outrages against freedom, truth and justice, when democracy is destroyed under the pretext of caving it, law ie not only denied--it is perverted. 4nd what need do our people have for men and women who would practice perversion? Yet the truth rémains true that never have our peorle had greater need than today for great lawy and for young men snd women determined te be great 1:Great lawyers—-not brilliant lawyers. A scoundrel may be, and often is, brilliant; and the greater the scoundrel, the more brilliant the lawyer. But only a good man can become a great lawyer: for only a man who understands the eaknesees of men because he has conquered them in himself: who has the courage to pursue his ideals though he knows them to be unattainable; who tempers his convictions with respect for thoge of others because he realizes he may be mistaken: who deale honorably and fairly with all, because to do otherwiee would diminish him a= well as them--only such 4 man could so command respect that he could persuade an: never resort to force. Only such a man could become & lawyer. Otherwise, “what you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say. jen and women of thie kind, our country will always haven and now, more than ever. True, there is little that men of good will can do now to end the madness that holde our nation in its grip. But we can, even now, scrutinize our past; try to pinpoint where we went wrong: determine what led to thie madness and what nurtured it: and how, when it ends, we make sure that it need never hapren aguin. For this madness must end--if not in my lifetime, at least in yours. We Filipinos are proverbially patient, and we are alec infinitely tough and ingeniously resourceful. Our entire history as a people has been 6 quest for freedom and dignity; and we will not be denied our dream. So thie madneee will end; the rule of force will yield to the rale of 1: Then the country will need its great lewyers, its great engineers, ite great economists and managers, the beet of its men and women to clear the shamb: and reetore the foundations of that noble and truly Filip. society for which our forefathere fought, bled and died. So, there are two sides to the question of whether it is worth your while to study lew; end, in the end, it is a question that only you can answer. dust be sure that, whatever be your decision, it is truly yours, that it ie really what you want, not a choice dictated by a sense of duty to follow in my footsteps.decide, I suggest that y (a) The Attorney's Oath, Form. No. 28 appended to our Rules of Court; and the duties of an attorney, Rule 138. Sec 20 of the Rules of Court, which you can get from my office. (b) “The Five Functione of s Lawyer” in Arthur T. Vanderbilt’s "Cases and Materials on Modern Procedure. {e)_ “The Chicago Lawyers Pledge” on p. 395, and “The Crafts of Law valued" on pp. 316-322 of Kari Llewelyn’s “Jurieprudence. " (4) “The Lawyer from Antiquity to Modern Times" by coe Pound. (=) "Men of Law" by William Seagle. Theee should give you an idea of whst a lawyer should be what he hae been in the past. What he ie in our country, have an idea; (f) Martin Mayers “The Lawyers." telle what he ie in the United Ste and (g) Erisn Abe “Leuyers and Courte,” what he ie in England. Read either and compare with our practice. And for a critique of lawyers, of courte, and even of law, read - (h) “Lew against the People,” by Robert Lefcourt As you read, cultivate the habit I have never been able to school myself to do of taking notes of your reading--not only of the gist of what the suthor says, or quotations of thoughts he felicitouely expresses, but aleo of your reactions to hie work (where you agree or disagree or suspend judgment, and why), and of the thoughts he arcuses in you. File your notes i h orderly fashion. They will become invaluable to you as you mature. ter you have read enough to give you an idea of what a ig and does, but before you firmly commit yourself or the other, discuss the matter with your wife and --That the law is a demanding profession, exacting & conetant snd unewerving devotion that is alwaye a thinking obedience to ite ideals, and that ie much harder to give than blind obedience;