On Mandatory Free Legal Aid
Recently, the Supreme Court released The Rules on Unified Legal Aid Service mandating covered lawyers to render at least 60 hours of free legal aid to qualified beneficiaries, e.g., the indigent.
I actually support the idea. As a former Public Attorney, I believe it is the responsibility of every lawyer to advance the cause of the poor, the destitute, and the marginalized without expecting any return.
However, I feel like there is a lot of polish to be done and questions that need to be answered. For example, I am working under a highly specialized field, i.e., privacy law. How can I find qualified beneficiaries? I don't remember much of my civil or criminal law anymore which from my time as a Public Attorney are the common questions asked by indigent parties. It would be a detriment to both myself and my client if I represent them knowing that I am not skilled and learned enough. Is it sufficient, for example, to conduct seminars at barangays and other similar public areas for privacy awareness? How do you determine that the attendees are qualified beneficiaries? Do we need to check the eligibility and status of each one?
A noble idea, for sure, but the Supreme Court should be aware that there are different lawyers out there. We are not all general counsels.