Written Report: Corporate Lawyer

BACKGROUND
Name: Atty. Ilie Lionel B. Gramata
Position: Legal Department Head
Company: Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC)

INTRODUCTION
Atty. Gramata is the head of the Legal Department of the Philippine National Construction
Corporation, and also teaches in law school in San Sebastian College. Prior to heading
the Legal Department of PNCC, he was part of a law firm which he temporarily left, so as
to prevent a conflict of interest for being part of both the government and the private sector
in accordance of the law.
The Philippine National Construction Corporation is one of the Government Owned and
Controlled Corporations (GOCCs). As such, it is a corporation organized under its own
charter or law, and not with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thus, its
employees are subject to the Civil Service Commission rules and regulations and not
essentially by the Labor Code, which covers employees of the private sector, unless
otherwise provided.
The Philippine National Construction Corporation is a GOCC tasked to formulate,
develop, and approve government projects essentially for national development and
prosperity. It is focused on formulating and developing infrastructure projects that will
serve as the nations road towards progress and prosperity.

ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Analytical Skills in legal context means that lawyers must learn to review and
assimilate large volumes of complex information in an efficient and effective manner. It
includes reviewing complex written documents, drawing inferences, and making
connections among legal authorities, developing logical thinking, organization, and
problem-solving abilities, structuring and evaluating arguments as well as using inductive
and deductive reasoning to draw inferences and reach conclusions.

As we have observed, the analytical skills of a corporate lawyer like Atty.

Gramata focuses mainly in the drafting and making of contracts. As the head of
the Legal Department, he represents the Philippine National Construction
Corporation, a government owned and controlled corporation , which teams up
with other several private corporations in developing infrastructures and several
tolled roads. He utilizes his analytical skills in making sure that the terms of the
contract is in compliance with the requirements of the law and at the same time
being able to meet the conditions set by the parties before entering into a
construction projects with other private entities.

Atty. Gramata shared to the group that although they mainly handle the
contracts of the corporations, anything that is connected with its economic
provisions in not within their jurisdiction. Anything that concerns with the budget,
profits, and also the technical terms in engineering is left to the people who
specializes in that specific field. The group assessed that the analytical skills of
lawyers in the corporate world, is limited only based on what the company
demands.

ATTENTION TO DETAILS

The group observed that this skill is very essential to the job of Atty.
Gramata, as the head of the corporations Legal Department. There are several
occasions that he would cancel our scheduled visit because he was often called
for an emergency meeting with the Board of Directors. Although the agenda of
said meetings are not within our realm, Atty. Gramata was very generous enough
to impart to us its purpose. As the head, he is must to come up with strategies
would ultimately benefit the company. As a corporate officer who directly report
to the President and/or stockholders, he must be very keen to details because his
proposals to them would then be become a policy that eventually affect the
corporation as a whole.

We however took notice that this skill is not well utilized when it comes to
cases involving the PNCC. In instances whereby the corporation is being involved
in litigation, the office of Atty. Gramata is not the handling this. As explained to
us, it was the OGCC or the Office of the Corporate Counsel different from the
OSG or Office of the Solicitor General which handle cases involving cases of the
Government and its branches, not GOCC.

LOGICAL REASONING

Logical reasoning in lawyering is connecting the factual circumstances of

the case and arriving to a certain judgment of what are the issues as well as the
proper remedies that must be made. In corporate world, everything is structured
that every employee of the company have particular tasks which is not overlapping
to that of the other. Routines have been established. In attending to the legal
issues, the corporate lawyer is guided by the laws of the company he represents.
But even though he arrived to certain judgment he cannot act upon it immediately,
he must inform first his superiors or the President of the company, he must ask
for their comments. All actions which will result to fundamental changes in the
company must have the consent of the board of directors for it will become a new
policy.