21/02/2024
#002 The Lawyer Card and Why I Prefer Not to be Called "Atty."
Society is obsessed with titles, or maybe at least in the Philippines.
I recently got admitted to the bar and since then, people have been calling me "Attorney." Even when I was still in law school, people tease me or call "Attorney" already. There's nothing wrong with it actually. But I prefer not. Why?
Unless we're in a courtroom, or you're talking to me as a client or with business transaction, I prefer to be called by my name especially in my circle of friends and family. I know I earned that title when I passed the bar, but I just want to live a life without special treatment.
The Lawyer Card. Yes. When people know or discover that you are a lawyer, they immediately change their behavior and treatment towards you. Like you're some kind of genius, ultra hardworking and respectable person. I am always amazed by that scenario when I just buy food, take a cab, browse books in a store, or even having normal conversations with strangers.
In the legal community, we don't necessarily address each other as "attorney," instead we call "panyero" or "panyera," for building rapport. If we're really good friends with another lawyer, we just call each other by names or "ate" "kuya" "manong" "manang" etc. Within my non-legal circle of friends, they just call me by my name, and I prefer it that way just to remove any formality because what bonds us is not my professional relationship but friendship.
I always advocate "more to life than law" because really, there is more depth in a person's life, attitude and character than what's earned by him in the academe. If you strip away that title, who are you? Are you still the person that your friends and family like you to be? if yes, then it's really not a big deal if people don't call you by your title.
So those are just my thoughts and preference about it. How about you?
