DLSU launches own law school

MANILA, Philippines - In an effort to contribute to the development of future leaders in the legal profession, De La Salle University (DLSU) officially launched yesterday its College of Law.

The DLSU Juris Doctor (JD) program offers a multi-disciplinary approach to learning, which will develop in law students the research and communication competencies to practice the profession.

Its faculty will provide hands-on mentoring throughout the program in order to fully prepare the small but select group of students, not only for the Bar exams but also for the actual practice of law.

Legal aid and externship programs will expose the students to DLSU’s national and international network of communities, organizations, and law firms.

DLSU president and chancellor Armin Luistro said the College of Law seeks to actively engage in the promotion, protection, and preservation of human rights and environmental laws, making DLSU’s law school different from other law schools in the country.

While following a curriculum mandated by the Supreme Court and the Commission on Higher Education, the program will also underscore the teaching of human rights, which will be offered as an elective and infused in core subjects.

For its first year, the DLSU College of Law will start with only 90 students.

The college will confer a Juris Doctor degree, and will follow the trimestral system of the university.

Lawyers Jose Manuel Diokno and Gil delos Reyes will serve as the new law school’s dean and vice dean, respectively.

The law school’s board of advisers include retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, retired Supreme Court justices Florentino Feliciano and Josue Bellosillo, Judge Anselmo Francisco Trinidad Reyes of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in Hong Kong, and 2009 Ramon Magsaysay awardee, lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. – Sandy Araneta