The law is a burden. It was never meant to be anything else.
From the moment a student first opens a codal, the weight settles in—dense, unrelenting, demanding. It is there in the silent wars waged between exhaustion and ambition, in the lonely hours spent memorizing provisions that blur into the margins of sleepless nights. It is there in the quiet breakdowns between classes, in the unspoken fears of those who wonder if they are meant for this path, or if this path will swallow them whole.
And yet, the halls of every law school remain filled. The library lights stay on long after the world has gone to sleep. Because despite the weight, some choose to carry it anyway.
On 23 March 2025 at 3:00 PM, inside Eagle Hall at Newtown Plaza Hotel, the air was thick with something unspoken. A room full of those who had endured, who had poured themselves into this craft until there was nothing left to give—only to wake up and give more. Hon. Jason R. Barlis stood before them and spoke of discontent, of refusing to settle even now, after the battle had been won. The title, the oath, the ceremony—these were not the reward. They were only proof that one was worthy to bear an even greater weight.
Court of Appeals Associate Justice Marietta S. Brawner-Cualing knew this weight well. Shortlisted, overlooked, again and again. A lesser mind would have seen rejection. But the law does not remember those who waited—it remembers those who insisted on becoming. And so she did.
Because this is meraki.
The law is not merely studied, nor is it simply practiced. It is carved into existence by those who pour themselves into it, who leave behind something that cannot be measured in citations or titles. It is found in the persistence of those who keep showing up, who give and give until the work is no longer separate from the worker—until the labor itself carries the imprint of the soul that created it.
And now, in this room, sat those who had chosen to bear that weight—not merely as lawyers, but as servants of the law. To stand for justice not as an obligation, but as a calling. To carry this duty with the same passion that first made them pick up their books, with the same relentless fire that kept them moving forward when every doubt told them to stop.
They carry it not alone, but as Louisian lawyers—shaped by a tradition of excellence, bound by a promise greater than themselves. The law, to them, is not just a career. It is service. It is sacrifice. It is meraki.
And so, the night ended, but the weight did not. It never will. Because this profession was never about a title or a passing score. It was about those who choose, every single day, to carry the burden of the law.
And perhaps, in the end, the weight is not a burden at all.
Perhaps, it is meraki.
This prose is written by Ace Kevin Leaño EIC of Louisian Law Journal, JD 3, for the Testimonial Dinner held on 23 March 2025 as a celebration of the appointment of two Louisian graduates to prestigious positions in government, and the success of new Louisian lawyers in the 2024 Bar Exams. The gathering reflects the institution’s ongoing commitment to advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals No. 4 (Quality Education) and No. 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).
