The “Decalogue” Advocate

The “Decalogue” Advocate

I. Study. The law is constantly changing. If you do not follow their steps each day will be a little less lawyer. II. Think, you learn studying law, but thinking is exercised. III. Work. The Bar is a heavy fatigue at the service of justice. IV. Struggle. Your duty is to fight for the law, but the day you’re in conflict with law, justice, fight for justice. V. Be loyal. Leal as your client that you can not leave until you understand that it is unworthy of you. Loyal to the opponent, even if it is unfair to you, Loyal to the judge who ignores the facts, and must rely on what you tell and, as to the law, occasionally must rely on you invoke it. VI. Tolerated. Tolerate another’s truth in the same way that you want yours to be tolerated. VII. Be patient. The time is come from the things you do without them. VIII. Have faith. Have faith in law as the best instrument for human coexistence in court, as the normal destiny of law in La Paz as a substitute kind of justice, and above all have faith in freedom, without which no law, no justice, no peace. IX. Forget. Advocacy is a struggle of passions. If in every battle you were filling your soul with rancor come a day when life would be impossible for you. Completed combat, forgotten as soon as you defeat your victory. X. Love your profession. Lawyers Try to consider so that the day that your child will get advice about your destination, consider an honor for you to provide it is a lawyer. Taken From: Mr Cameron Fisher. (2011, March 30). Australia’s advocate decalogue. Retrieved November 12, 2011, from http://australia-lifestyle.com/decalogue.html.

The "Decalogue” Advocate was written by Eduardo Juan Couture (1904-1956). He was a  teacher and lawyer.He was an eminent jurist, who was inducted into the “Colegio de Abogados de Lima”, as a Member of Honour in 1951. He was Professor of Procedural Law at the University of the Republic in his country Uruguay. He directed the “Journal of Law, Jurisprudence and Administration, he was Dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences and President of the Bar Association.

The “Decalogue” Advocate contains regulations or commandments for professional or corporate lawyers in the exercise of their profession. It summaries the most important principles and values that support the professional, social, and personal life of every good lawyer.  It remarks values such as loyalty, tolerance, patience, respect, and responsibility.

I want to mention this information because these commandments are important, relevant and will help future lawyers as a guide the professional performance to avoid contradictions between legal and ethic norms.

We can observe the video of Romana Sadurska, she is a partner of prestigious law firm. She talks about her life and experience as a lawyer. She emphasizes how relevant it is to put into practice values and ethical principles to become a good lawyer.

Written by Adriana Valverde

Sources consulted:

Couture, Eduardo J. (2002).The statutes of the lawyer.  Jure publishers: Mexico.

Tips for Young Lawyer

Tips for Young Lawyers  Young Lawyers: How to positively differentiate the legal market? Experience: Talent knows no age. Youth can be a source of opportunities. The main opportunity for young lawyers is that they do not usually have so many prejudices and some elders. Limited preconceived opinions in the business world. What is experience? Is the ability to learn from the life of each customer case. This capacity depends on oneself rather than age. To think that a veteran lawyer is an expert on age alone is absurd and mental restraint for young lawyers. Park your fear, your other possible barrier paper. The ability to think big costs no money and only those who think big to find opportunities. Think big computing well as investing their money and their time. If you have good values, no one will "steal" their dreams. Imagine a young graduate who has been trained in legal practice and decided to join the profession. Usually the first thing that comes to mind is to try to join a firm or partner with other partners and open office. It is not essential. The key is to market its own strategy; a strategy defined, in writing, and opts for one of the above options.  Constantly update their knowledge and reflect, however, the following. Knowledge, while essential, no marketing strategy is not going to go too far. As George Bernard Shaw: "Those who can, do, Those Who Cannot, teach [" Those who can, do, those who cannot, teach. "] Attitude: Attitude is the base. To get new results, you should do different things. If not, the reason for his professional roof is yourself. Do not blame others.  Learn to be stronger mentally, gaining self-esteem is essential to make a name in the profession. Improve self-esteem, self-acceptance is essential to better sell legal services. Admire, Admire, not envy. For example, if you aspire to have a large law firm, the best we can do is admire the large law firms. So you can learn from them. If you envy them, lose energy unnecessarily. Values: What makes the difference? The values ​​and style. You must know explicitly their values, define and communicate. Vision: What is your vision for the future? Want to be an alternative to law firms that support the internationalization of companies in your country? An example: For years I have been creating a wide network of international contacts, influential law firms and indigenous major international markets. Firms are willing to support European business associations and my clients in their international expansion. If I’ve done, you can too.  Having a direction (vision) is transcendental. Your dreams (vision) are becoming reality at the time that the plasma in writing, define objectives, strategies, actions, responsible for their achievement and a calendar. Their market research: The world is full of conquerors trying to change others, when the first thing to do is to change or improve yourself. If you improve, start to get new results. Therefore, the epicenter of your market research you and your office. It is essential that you know your strengths and areas for improvement. Ask your colleagues how you are perceived. Leverage your personal brand on the basis of their virtues or strengths.  The professional profile – In a hypercompetitive world, the measured profile is the lawyer-consultant, ie a lawyer to help customer oriented and able to identify customer needs and even anticipate them. An attorney with business profile, a professional who brings value to the customer. Picture: We are an image. Until we know, for those is a picture: pleasant, reliable, trained, ready, unfriendly, etc. Why are first impressions so important, when forming perceptions. Watch your language verbal and gestural detail. Language creates perception, the door of business. Fees: Anyone can compete on lower fees.  Taken from: Admin Pawter. (n.d.). Tips for young lawyers.  Retrieved November 12, 2011, from http://articles.riderdownload.com/tips-for-young-lawyers/

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The article “tips for young lawyers", shows us some tips and recommendations that will help young and futures lawyers to become an excellent professional. It may make it easier for them to establish a positive image in the legal market.

This article is important due to it is a motivation for law students and young lawyers who want to reach their goals and continue with their majors. It is significant to remark that talent has no age, just as the article mentions. Young lawyers, despite of their age, can successfully perform their jobs.  Assuming that a lawyer is an expert because of his age is an absurd restraint for young lawyers´ success.

Also, I wanted to mention this information because it is important to take into consideration lawyers´ attitude, values and ethic principles are aspects in the article which are going to make a difference between being a simple lawyer and being an outstanding lawyer.

Written by Adriana Valverde.

NFPA diamond

The NFPA created a diamond or a kind of code in order to protect the industries from fire; also it is used to communicate the type and the risk of every material that the companies use.

The diamond has four divisions and each division have a color; every single color has a meaning. When a chemical product represents a risk in the containers we can find the different colors that alerts and informs  that it represents some risk. Color blue refers to health risks, color red refers to inflammability, color yellow means reactivity and color white means especial risks. Each color has some different numbers and each number means the risk level. Below I want to show you how it works:

Color blue means health:

0.    No health risk.

1.    Materials that causes skin irritation.

2.    Substance can cause a minus damage.

3.    Substance causes permanent damage.

4.    Substance causes the dead.

Color red means inflammability:

0.    Material does not burn.

1.    Materials need a temperature of 200°F to burn.

2.    Materials need a temperature of 100°F to burn.

3.    Liquids and solids need a temperature of 83°F to burn.

4.    Materials burn quickly, the necessary temperature is 73°F.


Color yellow means reactivity:

0.    Material is stable, do not react with anything.

1.    Material is stable but it cans react with different temperatures or pressure.

2.    Material presents chemical changes.

3.    It cans explode with different temperatures.

4.    It can explode with normal temperatures.

Color white means special situations:

W: the element reacts with water.

OX: the element is an oxidant element.

COR: the element is corrosive.

BIO: the element has biological risk.

CRYO: the element causes cancer.

We must bear in mind that all chemical compounds are different,  it means that all substances have different risks, some substance can have white, blue and red color, another substance can have just white and red, the colors in the diamond depends of each special substance.

We like workers and health professionals to look in every container and take precautions as possible as they can to avoid lethal accidents.

We must be aware of prevention policies to avoid accidents and occupational diseases that can be caused for an exposure to some different substances.

 Here is the NFPA diamond:

Written by: Paulina Guillén Vargas.

Sources consulted: Soto, R. (12 de November de 2011). NFPA standard. San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica.

Crime and violence in Costa Rica: Law Enforcement

Crime is a fact that affects Costa Rican and foreign visitors. The previous video shows how crime and violence are very harmful problems because they only bring negative effects to the community.

 In the past, crime was only a word in Costa Rica, but nowadays, it is totally different, crime is very common. Peace and tranquility that identified Costa Rica, as peaceful country, now seems to be a dream. Crime, assaults and robberies at homes are really common in most Costa Ricans` lives.  People are afraid of going out because cities are very dangerous.

In most newspapers, magazines and TV news it is very common to watch information about crimes and assaults that occur in our country. In many cases, crime and violence are related to drug traffic, which is another problem that is affecting Costa Rica.

In fact, crime is increasingly becoming a very concerning problem. Costa Rica has to change this situation now because violence affecting the tranquility and development of our country.

 However, another real fact that we should not hide is the one we listen in the radio everyday, they say that   the government is not congruent and strong enough on the application of laws or penalties against criminals. It is common to hear that criminals can rob or even kill a person and the police just arrest them for few hours and next day criminals are back in the streets. Analyzing these conditions we can see how the law application is not congruent with the reality Costa Ricans are facing.

In these circumstances, in the last decades penalties have been hardened, it is important to mention the most relevant  changes first the maximum prison sentence  was raising from 25 years to 50 years and the maximum sentence for teenagers was also increasing. These penalties are some of the highest around the world, nevertheless, it is evident how   they are not enough to fight against crime and violence.

Finally, it is obvious that this country needs an urgent and effective reform in different areas, especially in the social field; had to hand with the juridical and political polices which need a quick restructuring.

 “We have the right to live in peace! 

Stop crime and violence!”

Written by Adriana Valverde.

Sources consulted:

Asamblea Legislativa. (1970). Código Penal. San José, Costa Rica.

Scott Oliver. (n.d.). Crimen En San José Costa Rica - Ofensores Reincidentes son un gran problema. Retrieved November 12, 2011, from http://www.casadelujo.com/public/827.cfm

Immigration in Costa Rica: Pross and Cons

Immigration is the act of coming into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence. It is made for many reasons including economic, family, or political situations.

Immigration is one of the most controversial topics in our country and people have divided opinion on this subject. Many people feel that society benefits from immigrants as they take up jobs and contribute to the government through taxes. There are many people however, who feel that immigrants encroach on their lives and the attention of social services

The high concentration of immigrants workers in the agricultural industry keep food prices relatively low. These are some of the benefits of immigration. Immigrants are a source of low cost labor, but these cost reductions are also eventually passed on to the consumer, so host country citizens benefit from this as well.

Immigration also increases cultural diversity and increase the quality of life  of immigrants. For me it is the most important benefit or advantage that immigration provides, it brings immigrants better opportunities to go on and build their dreams and goals. I think that everyone deserves a chance at a better life.

However, immigration has resulted in many problems all around the world. For example, different types of diseases, increase in crime, racial discrimination, greater educational costs, greater poverty, and others can result.

I think this topic is very important because immigrants are usually the people that spend hard hours in the agricultural and construction industries and they make a country unique and diverse. Without them, half of the accomplishments and successes of some countries would not happen. I think that it is vital to the development of countries. In conclusion, the presence of the immigrant population is something that we should embrace as citizens.

Everyone has the right to have a better life!

Written by Adriana Valverde.

Sources consulted:

Dickerson Marla and Kimitch Rebecca. (2006, March 23). Costa Rica Seeks to Shut Its Doors to Illegal Migrants From Nicaragua. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/23/world/fg-costa23

Bobei. (2011, September 6).  Benefits of Immigration. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-immigration/

Donald J. Boudreaux. ( 1997, December). The Benefits of Immigration. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-benefits-of-immigration/

Professional Ethics

As the video shows professional ethics may be defined as the science that deals with the rights, duties, and  values pertaining to each profession. It is closely related to the social responsibility, and its main objective is to make every conscious about their responsibility they have in each occupation.

It is relevant for every future lawyer to take ethics as way of life. It depends on us the orientation we give to our profession. Nobody may doubt of our ethics if we are creative, responsible, kind, intelligent, fair, and honest.

The ultimate goal of professional ethics is that each professional, no matter her or his occupation, doctors, engineers, lawyers, or teachers perform their duties the best they can, with no harm for others and with  no intention to get benefit for themselves.

As mentioned before, each of the professions has its own ethic code, and as a consequence it is mandatory to follow it. When a professional breaks such code her or his clients or superiors may punish her or him.


In summary, I can conclude that this topic is very relevant  because professional ethics is really importante to achieve success and be known as outstanding representatives in our field.

Written by Adriana Valverde

Sources consulted:

Definición.de. (2008). Definicion de Etica Profesional. Retrieved November 12, 2011, from http://definicion.de/etica-profesional/.

Lackout and tag-out

This article is of huge importance it talks about the importance of protecting workers from accidents caused by a bad control of hazard energy. It is important to note who are potentially exposed are the people that maintain the machineries and work with them. The accidents result from a bad management of hazards energy, they are very painful and frequent, so it is extremely necessary to have a program to control the hazards energy. The program must be efficient and easy to understand, at the beginning the program must be in steps, first the health professional must write all the steps in a paper, second recognize all hazards energy in the work place, third they search the way to control that energy, fourth teach the employees how to tag-out and lockout that energy, and last but not least the primary cable must be in the land ground. This article talks about different themes, first it mentions the OSHA 1910.147 which is a rule that talks about the service and maintenance of the machines and different equipment that can start in an unexpected moment and it can represent a damage to workers, this rule sets the minimum requirements for the control of energy. Second, the article talks about the ten most common problems with tag-out and lockout namely:

•           Lack of procedures.
•           Training all employees.
•           Wrong use of tags.
•           Wrong use of locks.
•           Working under someone else´s lock.
•           Not identifying all energy sources.
•           Annual audit of procedures and review of findings.
•           Maintenance vs. Minor routine tool changes.
•           Oversight
•           Duplicate keys.

For me this article is relevant for all employees and employers because the objective of health professional is taking care of them, in other words it is necessary take prevention policies to make a secure work place. I agree with this article because in some work places we don´t take under consideration all what must be done. The ten most common problems that this article is mentioning are important but I think that most of the times the employers and work conditions make a hazard work that  it represents a huge problem for workers. Something that this article don´t mention is that equipment must be clear and understanding for example the tag-out must be red and it must have a clear letter that includes the name of worker, the date, and the start time and end time of work, another important thing is that the lock and tag must be the same color preferably red because this color is striking and it means prevention.

Here is the instrument to logout and lack-out:

I wanted to talk about this information because I like it, also it is a topic that few professionals’ health talks and practice about it. When I found the information I have found very interesting and I have decide to put in the blog because it allows both inform and take prevention polices in order to avoid accidents caused by hazards energy in the workplace.

Written by: Paulina Guillén Vargas
Sources consulted: Roger Soto, 2011, candeado y eteiquetado.