Salonga Center holds talk on how to ‘think critically like a lawyer’
The Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development of Silliman University (SU) held a virtual talk called “The Make-up of a Judicial Mind: How to Critically Think Like a Lawyer,” with Court of Appeals Justice Pamela Ann A. Maxino, SU alumna, as guest speaker, April 17, 2021.
Maxino is currently the chairperson of the 19th Division, Court of Appeals.
In her lecture, Maxino introduced a systematic approach in dissecting what goes on in a lawyer’s mind when faced with a case. Among the many tools that a good lawyer possesses, she said that three “rise above the rest”: legal reasoning, deductive reasoning, and analogical reasoning.
In explaining legal reasoning, Maxino first gave an example: An accused drew a check when he knew that he did not have an account with that bank. Naturally, the bank would dishonor the check. To find a solution, the law would have to be applied.
She quoted Section 1 of B.P. 22, The Anti-Bouncing Checks Law, which punishes the act. Once the crime is proven, Maxino said the Court would pronounce the accused guilty and be punished by the aforementioned law.
Maxino also emphasized the importance of stare decisis. This doctrine binds courts to follow prior decisions of the Supreme Court.
Precedents, she added, back up cases with mirrored facts and allow the Court to rule uniformly. Through this example, Maxino described the structure of legal reasoning: ground (facts), justification (law), proposition (decision), and backing (precedent).
As for deductive reasoning, Maxino warned against premises that may have exceptions or qualifications.
As an example, she narrated that in Obligations and Contract, the statute of frauds generally applies when a contract involves more than PhP500,000. The exception is when there has been partial fulfillment and statute of frauds would no longer apply.
When the statute of frauds no longer applies, a creditor can demand payment against his debtor based on a mere oral contract even if the amount involves PhP1,000,000.
Moreover, she delved into analogical reasoning by sharing the four steps in applying analogy, namely: Compare and contrast the critical facts of the precedent cases with your facts; if the key facts are similar, extract from the earlier cases the legal principle/s upon which these cases were decided; apply these principles to your case; and lastly, arrive at a conclusion based upon the application of those principles to your case.
Maxino ended her presentation by saying, “Argue your case not by a preponderance of speech, but by the logic of your thought.”
The webinar was attended by lawyers, deans, professors, and students from various universities and organizations.
The event was organized by the Center’s student volunteers under the leadership of Salonga Center Director, Atty. M. Mikhail Lee L. Maxino.
(Report by Shanielle Qim Cañeda, president of the Salonga Law Center Volunteers)
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