Legal exports (II)

In last week’s column, I highlighted a number of Filipinos currently practicing in international law firms.  I was surprised (pleasantly) at the reaction I received, with some reminding me that there are other Filipinos who embarked on other notable international legal careers. As predicted, I missed out identifying not just some but on several of our legal exports.

The variety of career paths that Filipino lawyers have been able to forge is heartening: there are academics who finished their SJDs or JSDs (the real doctorate degrees in law) and are now in the law faculties of other countries; these include Anna Su at the University of Toronto and Diane Desierto at the University of Hawaii.

Shell Exploration’s Kiril Caral rightly wrote to say that we should also cite the legal expats working in-house with the world’s top corporations. Those based in Singapore include Junie Lutian of Procter & Gamble, Rene Navas with Cisco, Ato Salud at Diageo, and Valerie Velasco with NetApp. Allan Matute is based in Bangkok with General Motors while Tristan Yu is with Shell in Dubai. 

I also forgot to acknowledge the Singaporean power couple:  Mino and Margo Encarnacion.  Mino is a lawyer/banker at Farallon Capital while Margo works part-time with Credit Suisse.  As regards former White & Case co-alumni, Dennis Soliven is now with IFC in Washington D.C., while Yvette Rodriguez is working with Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong.  Ginny Reyes Llamzon works with the Dutch Development Bank (FMO). After a brief sabbatical in Manila, Monique Gallego is back with Schulte Roth in New York. Ari Singzon is practising with Kelvin Chia in Myanmar. New Philstar Chairman Ray Espinosa had a one-year stint at Covington Burling in Washington.

Our arbitration specialists include Louie Llamzon who is based in The Hague with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) while Maricef Valderrama is working with the Singapore International Arbitration Center. Speaking of Louie, he has embarked on a unique career path and has successfully straddled international academia and practice. Louie was a colleague at the Ateneo law faculty before leaving for Yale to obtain his LLM and start his JSD. He joined Skadden in Hong Kong before changing tack entirely by moving to the PCA where he is currently senior legal counsel. The PCA is located at the Peace Palace and is the world’s principal treaty institution engaged in the settlement of disputes involving States through arbitration. The PCA has recently become highly relevant to the Philippines, as the current UNCLOS arbitration lodged against China is seated there (he is personally not involved in that case, for obvious reasons). While at the PCA, Louie managed to finish his doctorate – his dissertation on transnational corruption in investment arbitration won Yale’s Ambrose Gherini Prize for best work in international law and is about to be published by Oxford. As there are few Filipinos practicing international dispute settlement (one other that comes to mind is Justice Florentino Feliciano who is also a Yale alumnus), Louie will no doubt become one of the bright lights in international law not only for our country, but for the region.

I’m sure there are still other legal exports out there and would love to hear from or about them.

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Foreign law degrees: Proud father Mon Paterno wrote to say that his daughter, Bea, just completed her first JD year at Harvard Law School. Speaking of US JDs, there is a growing number of Filipinos who choose to finish their basic law degree elsewhere, mostly in the United States. Those who immediately come to mind are Bianca Locsin and Felicia Ravago. Just like an American visa, a US law degree enables one to practice in several jurisdictions. But not in the Philippines.

Before, the rule was a Filipino law student had to finish a four-year law degree in the Philippines to be able to sit for our bar examinations. Thanks to a petition filed by Atty. Estelito Mendoza, the Philippine Supreme Court modified this rule in March 2010 and now allows a Filipino foreign law school graduate to take the bar exam provided: a) she completes a degree of Bachelor of laws or its equivalent; b) recognition or accreditation of the law school by the proper authority; c) completion of all fourth year subjects in a law school duly accredited by the Philippine Government; and d) proof of completing a separate bachelors degree.

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Accounting matters: No, this topic is not in connection with PDAF or the accounting of public funds. Rather, also in reaction to last week’s column, former BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres wrote to say that he was recently appointed as chair of the Board of Accountancy (BoA) under the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) two weeks ago.  Together with PRC Commissioner Angelina Chua Chiaco, he immediately hopped on a plane bound for Vietnam to discuss with counterparts of professional regulatory bodies in the region the finalization of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Accountancy Services. It is expected that this MRA will be signed during the Senior Economic Ministers meeting scheduled next August in Indonesia.  This will pave the way for greater mobility of accounting professionals in the 10 ASEAN countries. This will also enhance the adoption of international best practices on the work standards and qualifications of accounting professionals. Allowing an accountant to work in another ASEAN country will be subject to certain compliance requirements including an authorization to practice as a Registered Foreign Professional Accountant.

Unlike their legal brethren who still have to get to first base, Filipino accountants have been extensively discussing the reality of a cross-region accounting practice and are close to home plate in terms of preparing for the integration of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. BoA chairman Tan-Torres agrees with the proposition that opening up by a host country to foreign professionals will result in mutual and reciprocal benefits. He believes that with the proper mindset and training, Filipino accountants will be able to hold their own against their ASEAN counterparts.

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“An expert knows all the answers — if you ask the right questions.” – Levi Strauss

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