Professor Victoria A. Avena received her LL.B. cum laude (1982.) from the University of the Philippines and LL.M. (1993) from the Columbia University School of Law. Her course selection included: civil and criminal procedure, evidence, criminal law, white-collar crime, law and sexuality, and accounting.

She has been teaching Civil Procedure and Evidence in the College of Law since 1994. She is also a Lecturer for the UP Law Center Institute on Government and Law Reform from 2001 until present. She held the post of UP Office of the Legal Aid Director from 2000 to 2001. She served as Commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government from June 2001 to June 2004. She headed the UP Law Center Information and Publication Division from August 2004 to 2009.