Legal in Cebu

When it opened a branch in Cebu 25 years ago, Manila-based Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz started a trend among local law offices.

"Then and now, many of our clients have operations nationwide. At that time, there were some ongoing cases that needed to be heard in Cebu but which we were handling from Manila," said senior partner Victor Lazatin, who has headed the Cebu branch since 1981.

To expand its base as quickly as possible, ACCRALAW absorbed Deen Law Office, one of Cebu City’s oldest and most respected law firms.

"For us, joining ACCRALAW expanded our opportunities to learn and enabled us to handle even more complicated cases," said of counsel Danilo Deen.

Expansion

Starting with four lawyers, the Cebu practice now has 10 lawyers and 12 non-legal staff. More than 60% of its clients are based in Cebu, many of them multinational companies located at the Mactan Export Processing Zone as well as exporters outside the zone. The rest are clients of the Manila head office, with active cases for handling in Cebu.

"Many of our pioneer clients are still with us. We have many big corporate clients, which prefer to deal with only one law firm instead of being referred to another one when the case needs to be heard in another region. We also handle referrals from Cebu City and nearby cities, towns and provinces in the Visayas," said Lazatin.

To handle clients based in Mindanao or cases that need to be heard in Mindanao, the law office also maintains a Davao branch.

Training

As part of the law office’s training process, new Cebu and Davao recruits are required to spend at least a year in Manila. Provincial-based lawyers are also brought to Manila two to three times a year, on a rotation basis, for mandatory continuing legal education.

"We have become the training ground for local lawyers. They spend two to three years with the firm before moving on to establish their own practice," said Lazatin.

The full-service Cebu branch, which offers litigation, labor and employment, corporate and immigration expertise, currently accounts for approximately 10% to 12% of the law firm’s overall annual revenues.

"We expect the practice to continue growing because of the economic progress in Cebu City and environs. Our legal services are attuned to the needs of Cebu. We are flexible enough to accommodate the new requirements a growing business generates. The needs of our entrepreneurs are becoming more sophisticated and our inputs as their lawyers can be expected to keep pace with them," said resident partner Iolanda Abella.