Ateneo Law School - History

History

Early Years

The Ateneo de Manila opened its Law School on June 6, 1936, with Ateneo alumnus Manuel Lim as its first Dean. Freshmen and Sophomore classes, and eventually, junior and senior classes were opened. In 1939, the first Ateneo law graduates took the Bar Examinations. In 1940, the Ateneo Law School produced its first bar topnotcher, Claudio Teehankee, who would eventually become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 1986.

The School closed in 1941 as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War. The destruction of its facilities caused by the battle for the liberation of Manila delayed the resumption of classes after the war. It reopened in Padre Faura in 1948, with classes held in quonset huts.

The School remained at Padre Faura as other units of the Ateneo moved to Loyola Heights in Quezon City in January, 1952. A concrete building was constructed in the Padre Faura campus, where classes were held until 1977. In June 1977, the Law School transferred to a new location at the Ateneo Professional Schools Building along H.V. de la Costa St. in Salcedo Village, Makati City.

In October, 1986, the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) was established. It was formally integrated into the Law School in 1996 and began to handle the Ateneo Legal Aid Program.

In 1984 until 1990, the School began work on restructuring the law program under the supervision of Dean Eduardo delos Angeles, and applied for government approval to confer the degree of Juris Doctor. The development, implementation, and growth happened in the term of Dean Cynthia del Castillo, which began in 1990. In 1991, the School conferred the Juris Doctor degree.

Transfer to Rockwell

In the latter part of 1998, the Law School transferred to its present location at the Ateneo Professional Schools Building at the Rockwell Center in Makati City. That same year, the Center for Continuing Legal Education (CCLE) was created as a special unit to provide a venue for continuing legal education programs for the active Bench and Bar as required by the Supreme Court.

On July 1, 2000, the Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee Center for the Rule of Law (TCRL) was inaugurated. In the same year, constitutionalist and former Ateneo de Manila University President Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J. reassumed the position of Dean, which he previously held from 1974-1976.

In 2004, the School formally launched the Ateneo Legal Services Center.