Virtually unknown outside legal circles before the impeachment trial, lawyer Sheila Sison needed only one appearance before the Senate court to leave a lasting first impression.

Calm, composed and razor-sharp, the lead counsel for Vice President Sara Duterte quickly drew praise from observers who described her as brilliant, eloquent, and commanding as she opened the defense by questioning the constitutionality of the House impeachment proceedings.

In a trial expected to shape the country’s political landscape, Sison has suddenly emerged as one of its most closely watched figures.

Sison is a partner at the Fortun, Narvasa and Salazar Law Offices (FNS), to which most of Duterte’s 16-member defense team are affiliated. While she has largely stayed out of the public eye, she has built a formidable reputation within the legal profession.

Her law firm describes her as a “fierce litigator” who “takes on battles no ordinary-caliber lawyer would dare handle.” She also holds the distinction of being named the firm’s Lawyer of the Year for five consecutive years, from 2015 to 2019, an achievement FNS says remains unmatched.

Admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2014, Sison joined FNS a year later after serving as a member of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc.

Over the past decade, she has focused on criminal litigation, successfully defending clients before the Sandiganbayan while also handling civil litigation, family and estate law, labor disputes, appellate practice, corporate law and mining and natural resources cases.

Her academic credentials are equally distinguished. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts, major in Writing, from the University of the Philippines Los Baños before obtaining her law degree from San Sebastian College of Law–Recoletos as a full academic scholar of the Recoletos Order.