Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier will serve as chairperson of the 2025 Bar Examinations, the Supreme Court (SC) said Monday after it wrapped this year’s three-day comprehensive test for aspiring lawyers.
In its Bar Bulletin No. 1, the SC outlined key topics that will be covered in the 2025 Bar Exams. It said next year’s digitalized and localized examination shall continue to implement the vital reforms introduced during the last four examinations.
Lazaro-Javier noted the three-day examination shall continue to be conducted in September at local testing centers across the country.
The SC retains the relative weight of six core subjects—Political and Public International Law; Mercantile and Taxation Laws; Civil Law; Labor Law and Social Legislation; Criminal Law; Remedial Law, Legal Ethics and Legal Forms—in determining the final scores.
“The key is simple: work hard and pray hard. As you prepare for the 2025 Bar Examinations, your days will be filled with challenges and obstacles,” shared Lazaro-Javier.
“Show up on days when you feel your best and give it your all. And, on the days when you cannot be your best, that’s alright, show up anyway,” she added.
There will be four examiners to aid next year’s Bar Chairperson to facilitate the expedient yet thorough correction of answers, according to the SC.
The examination shall be sourced from laws, rules, issuances, and jurisprudence as of June 30, 2024.
Lazaro-Javier was originally slated to chair the recently concluded 2024 Bar Exams, but gave way to Associate Justice Mario Lopez, who is set to retire next year.
“Justice Amy, the portrait, which features a nurturing mother and child, symbolizes the care, leadership, and nurturing qualities that define you as a person and as a leader,” said Lopez in the turnover ceremony on Sunday.
“Like the painting depicts, you, as the new mother of the barristers, will teach our aspiring lawyers what it takes to enter the legal profession,” he noted.
The SC held the 2024 Bar Exams last September 8, 11, and 15 with over 10,000 examinees. The results will be announced tentatively by early December and the oath-taking ceremony for new lawyers is scheduled on January 24, 2025.
