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"Only in Our Dreams Are We Free. The Rest of The Time We Need Wages," Quoted

1) The document summarizes a lecture given by Atty. Christian Fernandez on how to interview a client. 2) Atty. Fernandez drew from his experience as a litigation lawyer in the Public Attorney's Office, where he had to quickly get up to speed on many different cases. 3) He taught a point-by-point process for dealing with different client behaviors and emphasized the importance of being perceptive to how clients react and answer questions in order to build trust. 4) Atty. Fernandez also encouraged developing emotional intelligence through reading books on the topic, noting its importance in the practice of law.

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Cates Torres
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86 views2 pages

"Only in Our Dreams Are We Free. The Rest of The Time We Need Wages," Quoted

1) The document summarizes a lecture given by Atty. Christian Fernandez on how to interview a client. 2) Atty. Fernandez drew from his experience as a litigation lawyer in the Public Attorney's Office, where he had to quickly get up to speed on many different cases. 3) He taught a point-by-point process for dealing with different client behaviors and emphasized the importance of being perceptive to how clients react and answer questions in order to build trust. 4) Atty. Fernandez also encouraged developing emotional intelligence through reading books on the topic, noting its importance in the practice of law.

Uploaded by

Cates Torres
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Univervisity of San Jose – Recoletos

School of Law
Practicum V
Prof: Atty. Christian Fernandez

Name: Roa, Joshua Caleb G. Date: September 21, 2021 Lecturer: Atty.
Romeo Tenedora

Insight Paper on How to Interview a Client

“Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages,” quoted
Atty. Bob when he ended his presentation. This line was from one of my favorite authors
the late great Sir Terry Pratchett who along with Neil Gaiman stoked the flames of my
love for literature and reading. The speaker used this line to drive a point – the, we, as a
batch and as students must strive harder to reach our dreams. The proverbial wage is the
sweat, blood, and tears that we are expected to pour into the cup that is law school. And
as cups go, they become full and overflow. The former an allegory of us finally becoming
lawyers and the latter a symbolism of us giving back to the law school that gave the
opportunity to learn the law. The speakers emphasized the plea that there is imperative
that we collectively give back. A genuineness plastered in his face resonating with me
reminding me of my resolve to do so.

Before going to the meat of the lecture How to Interview a Client, Atty. Christian
Fernandez did a small introduction of who the lecturer was. His words saying that he too
was a Josenian lawyer felt comforting in a way a familiar face does which the speaker
was. I was a member of the USJ-R Bar Operations a couple years back for the batch that
assisted Atty. Bob’s batch when they were still barristers. He said his pleasantries and
started with the lecture right off the bat. The presentation was clear and concise. He gave
a astute perspective as a practicing litigation lawyer. He shared that the nature of his job
being employed in the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) gave him a crash course in handling
cases saying that the number of daily appearances they do in their assigned courts were
quite high. I remembered my former bosses in the Regional Special and Appealed Cases
Unit of PAO Regional VII also having to work late and weekends just to chase and perfect
their pleadings and motions. He mentioned about inheriting cases he knew nothing about
at first and had to adjust to it. The cases were not just on paper, but they meant various
personalities in the shape of the agency’s clients. The human component of handling
trials was the spotlight of his lecture. He taught us a point by point process in which to
deal with the plethora of behaviors that one may face as a lawyer sharing that one needs
to be very perceptive or, in a sense, chimoso. He reiterated multiple times that the skill of
being perceptive is very important of how to interview a client. Emphasis on sensing how
people react to certain questions and their answers was taught by him. It’s not just a
barrage of inquiries hurled at the client to get the proper information out of him but rather,
from what I understood from his lecture, it was a cerebral flex of how win the client’s trust
in order for a lawyer to properly defend the client’s rights. Not to mean that a lawyer should
just go with the flow as some clients tend to run their mouths as he shared. A lawyer still
has to be adamant in steering the course of the interview to be time-conscious and
efficient.

Another thing that resonated so much with me was his push for not settling with
the status quo. Although I do know that there is no stopping of reading updated cases
and new jurisprudence when one becomes a lawyer, Atty. Bob’s reference of other non-
legal materials in the form of books that help one develop a good emotional quotient was
an eye-opener for me. He revealed that emotional intelligence is important in the practice
of law. This part of the lecture was both humbling and uplifting. The public’s narrative of
the boisterous litigator is often an easy to stereotype to fill. However, he swerved an
avoided that ego trap by bettering himself by on working on himself. I listed down the
books he mentioned and promised myself to read it when I have the chance to.

In a world of Roques and Panelos, I’m happy to listen to a lecturer who does not
fall into the hot shot frills of lawyering. I feel grateful to Atty. Christian for choosing Atty.
Bob to be an early presenter of this topic. Ever more so, I welcome future talks, both for
practical use and of life lessons, given by this class. I recognize the value of it teaching
us to approach this profession holistically. Looking forward to more.

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