Practice of law means any activity in or out of court which requires the application

of law, legal procedure, knowledge, training and experience. To engage in the

practice of law is to perform those acts which are characteristics of the profession.
Generally, to practise law is to give notice or render any kind of service, which
device or service requires the use in any degree of legal knowledge or skill
[Cayetano v Monsod, 201SCRA 210 (1991)].

Is Teaching Law A Practice of Law

 
Is teaching law a practice of law? If you work in other education institution or a
college then you may already be familiar with lawyers who are pursuing their
careers as teachers in law school or university. However, there is ambiguity
whether teaching law constitutes a practice of law or not. Practice of law,
as defined in the case of Cayetano vs Monsod, is any activity inside or outside the
court that requires the application of legal knowledge, training and experience. The
appointment was questioned because the respondents alleged that Atty Monsod did
not engage in the practice of law for 10 years assailing that he is not working as
trial lawyer in court for many years. . The Supreme Court ruled that Atty. Christian
Monsod was indeed qualified as Chairman of the COMELEC because his
experiences as a lawyer-economist, a lawyer-manager, a lawyer-entrepreneur of
industry, a lawyer-negotiator of contracts, and a lawyer-legislator of both the rich
and the poor
 — 
 verily more than satisfy the constitutional requirement
 — 
 that he has been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years. Practice of
law is also highlighted in the case of Philippine Lawyer’s Associations vs
Agrava. In this case, the Supreme Court reiterated that the practice of law as being
not limited to the conduct of cases or litigation in court. It embraces the preparation
of pleadings and other papers incident to actions and special proceedings. Suffice it
to state that the Supreme Court once again ruled out that practice of law is not only
focusing on doing litigation in court. It involves jobs or work that needs
application of legal knowledge and experience. From the facts given above, it
logically follows that when a lawyer engages in teaching law and at the same time
applying his legal knowledge and experience, he is already practicing law. As a
matter of fact, he is receiving compensation from his teaching career which is one
of the requisites in a practice of law. It is also doing a service as his livelihood .On
the other hand, habituality is also another element. When a lawyer teaches in
school with a specific schedule and he goes to school every day, it suffices the
definition practice of law. Practice of law is more than an isolated appearance, for
it consists in frequent or customary actions, a succession of acts of the same kind.
In other words, it is a frequent habitual exercise. It is crystal clear that teaching law
is akin to an actual performance or application
ofknowledge as distinguished from mere possession of knowledge; it connotesan
active, habitual, repeated or customary action.
1
 Thus, o "practice" law, or any profession for that matter, means, to exercise
or pursue an employment or profession actively, habitually, repeatedly or
customarily.

Attorneys are paid primarily for two things, their time and their legal advice. How much an
attorney charges for these two things varies greatly from attorney to attorney. The cost of an
attorney often varies based on the location. Regardless, the compensation of client-specific
attorneys is determined, directly or indirectly, in one of four ways: flat fee, hourly, on a
contingency fee basis, or on retainer. In some circumstances, a client anticipates having an on-
going and substantial need for an attorney’s professional services. In these circumstances, an
agreement may be reached that for an agreed-upon fee, the attorney will be “on call” to such a
client. The attorney is then guaranteed at least the agreed-upon amount for remaining available
to do whatever legal work is required for the client. This sometimes referred to as being on
retainer. The legal profession is one of the most lucrative and prestigious career
paths that one can pursue. The legal industry, however, is not only about prestige
and fulfillment. The business of law is one that demands strategic thinking,
financial acumen, and a deep understanding of the factors that drive
compensation in the industry.

Geographic Location

The geographic location of a lawyer can also impact their compensation.

Lawyers who practice in major metropolitan areas such as New York or San
Francisco can command higher salaries than those who practice in smaller cities
or rural areas.

Specialize in a High-Demand Practice Area

Lawyers who specialize in high-demand practice areas such as intellectual
property law or healthcare law can command higher salaries than those who
practice in more general areas. Consider pursuing additional education or
training to become an expert in a specific area of law.

Networking

Networking is a key part of building a successful legal practice. By cultivating

relationships with clients, colleagues, and other professionals in the legal
industry, you can increase your visibility and reputation, which can lead to more
business and higher compensation.

Generate New Business

Lawyers who are able to generate new business for their firms are highly valued.
Consider investing time and resources into business development activities such
as attending industry conferences, writing articles or blog posts, and speaking at
events.

3.1. Legal education in the digital age Legal education faces a range of other challenges too. Historically,
legal education has been criticised for not utilising new forms of technology as a way of modernising the
curriculum.- 12 At the same time, our experience suggests that more law schools are using some form of
web-based multimedia material to enhance legal education.13 This runs in parallel with global trends
towards the development of digital learning resources as a complement to traditional campus-based
education.14 Some of the examples include the development and introduction of recorded lectures as a
way to replace and flip the classroom experience,15 as well as other computer-aided learning tools for
law students.16 Internationally, there are also reports of multimedia cases and simulations being used
to train law students’ reasoning and practical skills.17 Digital learning resources afford students
opportunities to train in safe environments, asynchronously. More specifically, digital learning resources
provide threefold advantages, allowing students to engage with material: in preparation for teaching
and learning; in conjunction with teaching; and also after teaching as a way of processing material and
concepts addressed previously. When used as a complement to campus-based education, digital
learning resources offer students an opportunity to consolidate their learning processes, enabling them
to process and mobilise the knowledge they have acquired. Moreover, developing digital learning
resources also offers law teachers a key opportunity to develop their teaching, giving them the
opportunity to consider the design of different aspects of teaching and learning.18 Returning to the
Swedish context, it is important to acknowledge that classes can contain up to 200–300 students during
each course, as such a classroom-based solution would demand far more resources, in terms of both
teachers and finances than are today widely available in the Swedish public university context.
Consequently, digital learning affords an interesting avenue for exploration that may facilitate the
practical training of legal reasoning. However, to the best of our knowledge, these types of methods are
not widely used. Owing to previous experience with the open source software OpenLabyrinth33 (OLab),
this was used to build the case. OLab allowed the various types of questions and also different artefacts
to be added to the case. In addition, OLab is web-based and can be easily run on different platforms.
Education has evolved over the centuries. While your great-grandparents might have tales of a
one-room schoolhouse, you’re able to get advanced degrees from the comfort of your home.
Some law schools have created flexible programs that allow you to attend online, either full or
part time. If your dream is to become a lawyer, you have more options than ever.

 Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen underscored that the lawyers of the future will be
more burdened by technology’s impact on society in general.

Online teaching of law has also altered the traditional way it has been taught in the classroom,
according to Judge Ma. Rowena Alejandria, who teaches Criminal Law at the PUP College of Law,
San Sebastian College-Recoletos and the University of Caloocan.