Competency of The Legal Management Graduates in Their Law Subjects: Batch 2015-2016: An Assessment
Competency of The Legal Management Graduates in Their Law Subjects: Batch 2015-2016: An Assessment
By:
4ALM
November 2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The researchers would like to express their deepest gratitude to the following
persons, who in their special ways have contributed and extended their valuable
First and foremost, the researchers acknowledge the good Lord for guiding us
Their deepest gratitude for our thesis adviser Dr. Nerissa Revilla for being patient
Their appreciation also extends to Mrs. Emelie Regado for helping the
researchers review these papers and to Rishamai Gonzales for helping them with
regard to tallying the surveys and inputting data unto this work.
This is also dedicated to their family and friends who have touched them by
lending a helping hand, who supported them, and who serve as their inspiration in doing
this work.
The Researchers
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………………………ii
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………….iii
LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………………...x
CHAPTER
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………………………...9
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………………………..10
DEFINITION OF TERMS………………………………………………………….13
SAMPLING PROCEDURE…………………………………………………………19
TREATMENT OF DATA…………………………………………………………….19
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS…………………………………………………………43
CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………………………..47
RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………………………………….49
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………50
APPENDIX
B QUESTIONNAIRE…………………………………………………………………52
C TABULATION OF DATA
D SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE
CURRICULUM VITAE
LIST OF TABLES
Terms
Management
CHAPTER 1
The Legal Management program of San Beda College was created in 2002 to
respond to the need for a strong program that will match San Beda College of Law’s
long and illustrious reputation as a top law school in the country (Course Catalogue
2014-2015). It is the second biggest department in the College of Arts and Science of
San Beda College, and has produced numerous lawyers, some of whom are now
faculty members of the department. Under the objectives of the program, it has two-fold
purpose: first is to prepare the Legal Management students for a career in the
corporate world requiring knowledge in law, and secondly is to prepare students for the
rigors of law school, should they decide to pursue four years of law school (2016).
The program mainly consists of eighteen law subjects that would prepare the
Legal Management students for the rudiments of law school, such as: Law on Person
and Family Relations, Legal Writing and Research, Civil Laws, Labor Laws, Commercial
Laws, and Taxation Laws are some of the subjects which comprise the program SBC,
the Laws of the Philippines which is being taught in the College of Law. With such
College of Law amongst other students who took up different courses other than Legal
concerned with the "what" element or the outcome, but also with the "how" element or in
other words, the process of accomplishing a certain outcome. The competency level
competencies/)
It is in this light that the researchers conducted the study on the competency
particularly graduates of Batch 2015-2016 who pursued four year course on Bachelor
Laws in San Beda College of Law. The San Beda College Manila-College of Law, has
been perceived as one of the best law schools in the country. Over the years, it has
the highest position in the country, the President of the Philippines. It has also
achieved one of the highest bar passing rates and largest number of law graduates
graduates as pre law course or preparatory to Bachelor of Laws. In this study, not
only the output is measured, but also how the respondents attained such kind of
outcome -- what are the integrated knowledge, skills, judgment and attributes that came
into play in order for the respondents to react effectively to the demands of the society
educational system and among the important parts of the educational are the
curriculum, the teachers or faculty and the role they play in achieving student’s feat.
(Turner,2003)
knowledge and skills in the components of law and the legal intricacies of the business
laws. The BSLM is one of the programs being offered in San Beda College Manila. Its
curriculum designed to provide students with knowledge and skills regarding the laws of
business, obligations and contracts, taxation, labor laws and negotiable instruments as
well as a global view point and practical apprenticeship opportunities for exploring legal
surrounding business organizations and the BSLM program is a good preparation for
and provide them an advantage as they pursue further studies in law, however students
fail to stay or survive in the said program, consequently this has become one of the
problems that came to the researchers’ attention that showed potential of a study that
could help address the problem areas that students have encountered.
The researchers have categorized some possible areas that could be reasons
why such problems exits. These are the following. (1) Study habits (2)
Socio/Extracurricular activities. What is really the trend with the law students’ study
habits? In the recent research conducted in the University of Kansas by Paul A. Witty
and Harvey C. Lehman, it was found that “failures in college may be traced to
In Socio/Extracurricular activities, it was dubbed that social life and law school
are more likely to be compared to oil and water. Most law students take academic
competition very seriously, which can make it difficult to form close friendships and even
romantic relationships. But then again, would that be a successful trick in law school or
even one of the reasons why other students flunk or leave the program.
The researchers are interested to know how studying in legal management arms
students with competency in their law subjects. One of the reasons for the
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
deals with a very important part of intelligence, namely, memory and analytical skills,
and that is what the Sternberg Academic Test measures. These skills are important for
success in school and in life. Over the years, teaching the students at Yale, is that some
students were very gifted in traditional memory and analytical skills, but never good at
making ideas of their own. They were good if you told them the paper topic, if you told
them what exactly would be on the test. Sternberg’s theory is a good basis to be used to
reevaluate if the skill set of Legal Management students of San Beda College is enough
to give them a better edge in law school. Through this, the faculty of the department can
also be evaluated if its teaching methods are at their most effective and efficient state.
San Beda College boasts its success in its law school, with respect to that, its
undergraduate course whose program is strongly connected to the San Beda College of
Law’s rigorous program should be able to provide courses and experiences that will
engage the prospective law school students in critical thinking about important issues
and improve the students’ tolerance for uncertainties. The study of law itself does not
only require close reading and analysis of complex textual material or the
comprehension of judicial opinions, statutes, documents, and other written materials but
it will also demand the ability to structure and evaluate arguments for and against
propositions that are susceptible to reasoned debate, and that is not something that can
be learned from just memorizing books, articles, cases and other reading materials.
the box.
resources and skills that distinguish a firm in a marketplace. It is the theory of strategy
marketplace. The concept of core competency states that firms must play to their
strengths or those areas or functions in which they have competencies. The Core
Graduates Batch 2015-2016. It seeks to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the
organization, which are the graduates in this case. The Core Competency Theory is
actually made for corporations but it can be used to improve the performance of Legal
Management students of San Beda. The strength of the Legal Management course as
scholastic approaches in law school; having such bannered strength the administrators
must further evaluate what areas are to be improved and what various approaches can
further uphold the competency in law of the students so they may truly have a
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The focus of this study was undertaken by the following Conceptual Paradigm
shown in Figure 1.1 which shows the input, process, and output. The Input the Legal
Management Graduates of Batch 2015-2016. The Process is the gathering of the data
from the respondents, this includes the competency level that are measured through the
comprehension, writing skills, grammar and vocabulary, speaking skills, listening skills,
mastery of the law, knowledge of legal terms and maxims, case comprehension, time
management, information overload, and method of teaching and professor. The Output
is the different determinant factors that affects competencies which can be used to to
Management Graduates.
This study aims to determine the Law Subject Competency of the Legal
1.1 Age
1.2 Gender
4. How will the respondent rate the level of law subject competency?
6. How do the following factors affect the competency of the Legal Management
students?
when it comes to law subjects in law school, the researcher may be able to determine
how they cope up with the new scholastic environment, what are the advantages and
disadvantages students derive from the legal management’s curriculum and to point out
their edge, if any, as compared to law students coming from other courses.
Data from this research may be used to further improve the curriculum of the
advantage graduating as a legal management major when they enter law school and to
This study will be of benefit basically to the legal management students of San
Beda and its faculty. It will not only be a guiding light whether a person should take legal
management as a pre law but more importantly this can be a way to divert from the
mistakes or shortcomings made by the batch that have graduated already. It serves as
a mirror of the past that can help improve the future for the students and the faculty.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
This section presents the following words that were used throughout the
research.
between the study of law and management (i.e. business administration, public
administration, etc.). It is generally considered as the best preparatory law program for
for something.
educational institution.
Pre-Law- refers at least any four year course of study by an undergraduate student in
The study focused on the data obtained from the graduates of Legal
Management Batch 2015-2016 regarding their highest and lowest grade ever received
This study is interested on how the graduates would rate their law subject level of
competency in general and on how they perceived it in certain different factors, such as,
competency. In relation to how they manage their time, what information overload does
The respondents were only limited to the Legal Management graduates of San
This part is composed of related literature and studies and related readings. The
researcher has gone through intensive readings of ideas, finished thesis, methodologies
and others that were from the internet and printed which has great significance to the
Related Literature
Local
Ortiz (2013) elaborated that law schools don't prescribe a particular pre-Law
course. Whatever course will do, provided your pre-Law course complied with the
required number of units in Math, English, and Social Science. American Bar
Association (2003) likewise claimed that there is no single path that will prepare you for
a legal education. Students who are successful in law school, and who become
accomplished professionals, come from many walks of life and educational
backgrounds.
Fabio (2009) claims that the level of competition in law school varies greatly by
school, and many surmise there is less competition at higher ranked schools, especially
among those who don't use traditional grading and ranking structures. The theory is that
students who attend higher ranked schools are more confident of securing legal
employment simply because of their law school and that grades or class standing
matters less.
Foreign
Malcom (2004) however claims that Certain courses can be particularly useful in
developing the skills you will need to do well on the Law School Admission Test, in law
school, and in the practice of law, such as analytical, critical thinking, research and
communication skills, argumentation, and above all, writing. Some courses cover
On the other notes, Holts (2008) stated that the study of law is hard work, but it is
also intellectually challenging and highly rewarding. It involves large quantities of written
material which you will need to read, comprehend, synthesize and analyze. You will
need the ability to read and digest information quickly and to take good and accurate
notes. According to Barnes (2012) Law school is extremely competitive. Students are
forced to be highly competitive in law school these days because rivalry for any type of
legal position is extremely intense. Not only are students competing with other students
from their own law school, but they are battling with students from other law schools as
well.
According to Thompson (2005) three basic areas in which prelaw students need
to develop proficiency: The effectiveness in the comprehension and use of oral and
analytical and critical thinking. The theory is that if you are interested in your courses,
demonstrated commitment to learning that is the most important factor in the study of
law.