The University of San Carlos (USC) College of Law has been delivering quality legal education since its establishment in 1937. Located in the heart of Cebu City, USC Law is highly involved in shaping the legal minds of aspiring lawyers, mostly from the Visayas and Mindanao.
However, USC Law’s legacy goes beyond its location.
In the last decade, the University has been consistently producing topnotchers in the Philippine Bar Examinations. In 2016, USC Law registered a 100% passing rate, with four graduates placing 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 8th. In the following years, it consistently produced more.
This series of achievements places USC Law among the list of consistent top-performing schools in the Philippines, joining the ranks of Manila-based schools in Category A, or schools with more than 100 successful examinees. In the 2020–2021 Bar, for instance, USC garnered a 98% overall passing rate, followed excellent runs in the succeeding 2022, 2023, and 2024 Bar examinations.
Moreover, USC Law also made headlines this year when it bagged the best memorial award in the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition—the oldest, biggest, and most prestigious moot court competition in the world, besting law schools from major jurisdictions. Prior to that, USC won numerous mooting championships in the national and international scene.
Thus, many ask: What makes USC Law stand out?
Credit may be largely given to the roster of dedicated faculty, and to the law school’s focus on innovating and improving the method of teaching the law. But while academic excellence may have played a significant part, the University of San Carlos has taken this challenge on another level. On this note, former USC President, now Chair of the Board of Trustees, Fr. Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD, shared his thoughts about the importance of excellence and social service.
He emphasized the need for discipline-based community extension services, where law students think about the marginalized, such as explaining the Bill of Rights to farmers and persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in a language they know and understand.
This and more are taught inside and outside the halls of the School.
USC Law’s Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP), together with its Center for Legal Aid Work (CLAW) and Prison Ministry, has brought Carolinian law students face-to-face with the realities on the ground and how their skills and knowledge can make a difference.
This approach produced many topnotchers, shaped not just by class discussions but also by community immersions that painted each legal provision into reality. “This is one seed I am seeing grow—and it is an example of what I hope this School will represent,” Fr. Miranda said.
However, teaching reason with passion takes an entire village, composed of law professors willing to teach even after long hours of work and generous benefactors willing to invest in the future of Philippine legal education.
On August 9, 2025, Dr. Magdaleno B. Albarracin Jr., (see photo below, 2nd from right) former Chair of the USC Board of Trustees and currently the Vice Chair of PHINMA Corporation, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the University of San Carlos to further improve its legal program through infrastructure development, faculty training, research, and scholarships. With this agreement, the USC College of Law will be renamed in honor of Chief Justice Marcelo “Celing” Briones Fernan.
Born in Cebu, Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan is one of the country’s prominent legal luminaries. He is the only Filipino to have served as both Supreme Court Chief Justice (1988–1991) and President of the Senate of the Philippines (1998–1999).
“I thought it was appropriate for a well-known school. If I’m a student in the University of San Carlos Marcelo Fernan School of Law and I am a Cebuano, I would think to myself, maybe I can also be a Chief Justice in the future,” Dr. Albarracin shared.
Speaking to the USC Board of Trustees, USC Cabinet, USC Law faculty and students, he highlighted that many law firms in Metro Manila are eager to recruit USC Law graduates, highlighting their knowledge, skills, and dedication that are highly at par with those from top law schools in the National Capital Region; hence, the need to support its students, faculty, and other important stakeholders as they continue to improve the legal education in the country.
Meanwhile, USC President Fr. Francisco Antonio T. Estepa, SVD, shared his appreciation, emphasizing the importance of this milestone. “This has honored the legacy of a prominent Cebuano, former Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan—a figure whose values and life story resonate deeply within our community.”With this milestone, the entire USC and Cebuano community and the rest of society can expect greater things from USC Law—soon to be known as the University of San Carlos Chief Justice Marcelo B. Fernan School of Law.