Far Eastern University Institute of Law


The Far Eastern University – Institute of Law is a private, coed Legal Education Board-accredited law school of the Far Eastern University.
Facilities for its main program, Bachelor of Laws, is currently on the historic campus of the University in Nicanor Reyes St., Manila, although there is a plan to transfer the same to Makati.

Brief history

The Far Eastern University Institute of Law was formally established by Nicanor Reyes Sr. in 1934, the same year that the Far Eastern University was founded following the merger of the Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance. Currently, the campus for the Far Eastern University Institute of Law is now situated in Makati City.
Despite the Institute's limited resources, graduates include retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban; only five law schools have produced a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Manuel G. Montecillo, another alumnus of the Institute, obtained one of the highest grades in the history of the Philippine Bar with 95.5/100 in 1948.
In 1970 six out of the top ten placers in the Bar Exams were graduates of the Far Eastern University Institute of Law; no other school did better until 1984.
The Institute of Law has produced many well-regarded graduates, next to the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippine Law School, and University of Manila. Two Philippine Senate Presidents served as Dean: Jovito Salonga and Neptali Gonzales. the deanship was held by Atty. Melencio "Mel" Sta. Maria.
In 2003 the Institute teamed up with the De La Salle Graduate School of Business to offer the JD-MBA program, the first graduate dual program in law and business administration in the country. See Academic Programs: Legal Education for All. However, in 2014, this partnership was abolished.
In 2011 based on the Bar Examinations passing rate from 2001 to 2010, the Legal Education Board recognized the Far Eastern University Institute of Law as the Fourth Most Outstanding Law School in the country.

Academic Programs: Legal Education for All

The Institute of Law has the intention of providing quality legal education at an affordable cost and to make the Far Eastern University Institute of Law very applicable to working students, they relocated the campus from Nicanor Reyes, Manila to the Makati Central Business District.
The reengineered Bachelor of Laws Program leads graduates to specialize in litigation and other related practice areas.

Facilities

The Institute of Law is housed in the Makati Campus of the University wherein classes are being held in the fourth and sixth floor while the Law library is on the 5th floor.
It has bar review rooms and a moot court apart from its state-of-the art classrooms.

Deans

In 2000 ten law students of the Institute of Law lodged a complaint against Dean Andres Bautista, Associate Dean Teresita Cruz and two professors before the Commission on Higher Education for alleged irregularity. The complainants, headed by Artemio Urriza Jr., alleged that they were supposed to graduate in 1999 year but were unjustifiably given failing grades in two to three subjects taught by professors Atty. Ed Vincent Albano and Atty. Japar Dimaampao.
Their letter of complaint said they unduly received failing grades in Civil Law Review 2, Commercial Law Review and Remedial Law subjects.
"We firmly believe that we all passed our subjects and are very qualified to graduate but because of the whimsical and deliberate intentions of a 'triumvirate conspiracy' headed by our dean, Andres Bautista, together with our two professors, we became victims of injustices," they said. But Bautista denied the complainants' allegations as he maintained that the ten deserved to flunk in these subjects.
"We held a faculty deliberation on the second week of March. Professors then expressed reservations among some students, including them. It was decided that they need to take up these subjects again," he added. Bautista said that faculty deliberation is conducted to enable professors to collectively discuss the status of students.

Overheard at FEU Institute of Law

Overheard at FEU Institute of Law is a humor Facebook page, published by some law students and alumni, that documents different snippets of conversation or speech heard at the Institute of Law. The source of the humor in each quote varies. Some are intentional witticisms on the part of their speaker, some are based on his or her apparent cluelessness, lack of common sense, or stupidity, and some seem to demonstrate symptoms of mental illness . Overheard at FEU Institute of Law has become well-known within the campus.

Notable alumni