Published 04 June 2018, The Daily Tribune
I have been invited by my good friend, Willy Fernandez, to write a column in the re-launched Daily Tribune. My current workload is heavy as it is. The combined demands of running a law school and managing a law firm are enough reasons to turn down the invitation. This is particularly so when the law school is rich in history with solid academic reputation to protect such that laxity is abhorred. The law firm, in turn, is fast growing. Time and attention to it are therefore imperative. Otherwise, various opportunities can be missed out. My other philosophy in life, however, weighed in. I don’t say no to friends. Thus, this column. Adjustments on schedule and priorities will have to be made to be able to turn- in three articles a week without, however, sacrificing the interests of the law school and my law firm. Further, considering that the topics will be about law, then the column can be seen as an extension of my academic and professional life- a way of reaching out to those who, for varied reasons, can not attend my lectures. Since this is the maiden article, allow me to inform you, my dear readers, what to expect from this writer. First, the disclaimer.
- This is not an opinion or commentary column. I will not dwell on current political, economic, social or cultural topics no matter how tempting it may be . Impassioned debates are thus avoided and disagreements negated. I also get to keep my friends who share different views.
- I will not comment on any case pending with the court or forecast court decisions. It will violate the sub-judice rule. Also, I may err, in which case, I lose my credibility or I may turn out to be accurate but then be accused of having an inside track.
- I will not use this space to espouse the interest of anyone or defend myself or any person wrongfully attacked, no matter how provoked. There are other ways of achieving the same objectives.
The column will be instructive, educational and informative. Each article will give you legal pointers on what to do when facing legal problems or formulating decisions with legal dimension or ramification. It will touch on your legal rights and remedies given relevant situations. It may serve as your legal aid kit to readily tap in case of need. It will give you a dose of law to equip you with or supplement your basic legal knowledge. In so doing, I will avoid legalese. I will endeavor to make the presentation as simple as possible. It is basically law demystified. Of course, when in doubt or the situation becomes complicated, or legal representation is needed, you have to engage a legal counsel – and a winnner legal counsel at that.
The topics are broad ranging covering, but not limited to, corporate law issues, family law concerns, criminal and civil law resolutions, property and successional disputes, rights of the citizens against the State and vice versa, tax problems, labor matters, etc. In other words, the entire law spectrum. The topics are unlimited as the possibilities that the interplay of law and life present are infinite. However, the topics will all be based on unadulterated provisions of law and settled jurisprudence to be consistent with my disclaimer. For the initial articles though, let me dwell on subjects dearest me- commercial law. I have mostly acted as legal counsel for the top corporates and high net worth individuals. You may say that they have enough dose of law from the writer. And thus it is not their situation which will theme my first articles but those of the financially distressed debtors.
As a teaser, my next article will be about the legal remedies available to debtors in case they are short in cash and their creditors are pressing. Abangan
