Effective Attorney Work through an Interpreter: Twenty Tips to Work More Effectively in the Courtroom

Leilani Johnson Professional autonomy is the right-in fact the ethical responsibility-of members of the interpreting profession to act according to shared standards of the profession. Professional autonomy implies the right to exercise professional judgment in the face of pressures from institutional authorities, disagreement with members of the legal profession, or other demands. However, adhering to this paradigm is challenging. Our autonomy is in fact relational as a result of the very social structures upon which it depends for its existence-legislative mandates, system-based policies and procedures, and a unique bond to the language communities we serve.

These factors create unique and complex conditions impacting our decision latitude. How are we to reconcile these factors? This presentation will focus on a framework for ethical decision-making that views interpreting through the lens of relational autonomy and delineates the conditions that enhance or restrict decision latitude of legal interpreters, and the consequences of each.

This framework will assist practitioners in discussing their work and decision-making in a manner that can be understood, appreciated and valued by those within the legal system, leading to increased respect and professional standing for interpreters and enhanced ethical decision-making. Georgeanne Weller The growing need for interpreters in the U. The reasons are many fold: Jinny Bromberg and Irina Jesionowsky Legalese is legalese is legalese regardless the language it is spoken in.

Such sources as the U. Penal Code and Federal Rules of Evidence along with the Penal Code of the Russian Federation, Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, texts of judicial decisions and court transcripts in both languages have proved to be invaluable to Russian court interpreters. Jinny Bromberg and Irina Jesionowski offer a comparative analysis of legal language used in U. Another challenge of legal interpretation is dealing with a quirky language hybrid created by Russian-speaking immigrant community.

How to interpret from Ruglish into English? Which equivalents are appropriate? How to preserve the register? The presenters will offer solutions to the linguistic puzzles they have encountered in their practice and invite Russian colleagues to share their experience in deciphering Ruglish. Working in teams during trials and lengthy proceedings is recommended, allowing interpreters to provide effective communication, and to preserve the accuracy, quality, and uniformity of the interpreting task. Team interpreting prevents burnout and fatigue, while ensuring adherence to regulatory and judicial guidelines.

This seminar will examine the degree of trust placed on interpreters and the magnitude of this responsibility, which requires strict compliance to ethical standards. Attendees will participate in live exercises utilizing scripted material and hands-on electronic interpreting equipment. The project was funded through federal grant funds. This presentation will focus on the process of 1 distinguishing generalist from specialist competence, 2 defining standard, best and effective practice of ASL interpreters in the legal setting, and 3 strategies for building consensus around both standards of competence and best practice within the field of ASL-English interpreter practitioners and educators.

The lessons learned from this national project are widely applicable to both sign and spoken language interpreters and educators. Of particular interest are the findings from a series of focus groups and a national survey that indicate disconnect between what practitioners believe is best practice and what they actually apply in their day-to-day work. The factors impacting this disconnect include philosophical perspectives on decision latitude of interpreters, system constraints, and a lack of mastery of specific competencies.

The implications of these findings for both practice and education of interpreters to work in the legal setting will be discussed. Freelance translators and interpreters need to start thinking of themselves as business owners as well as professional language service providers. Many times, however, translators and interpreters only consider themselves business owners when they operate an agency or employ other individuals.

As a result, freelancers can find themselves in a competitive business environment without having learned the proper mindset to be as successful as possible. As you will learn from this session, thinking like a business owner requires skills that are quite separate from those necessary to translate or interpret.

John Estill and Isabel Framer Join the chairs of the Advocacy Committee and the Community and Government Relations Committee to discuss the advocacy activities of last year, and the plans for the future. Alejandra Franks Translation providers constantly strive to deliver products of quality to their clients.

1. Hotter The Second Time Around?
2. European Legal Interpreters and Translators Association?
3. Self-designations and Group Identity in the New Testament.
4. Michael Anthonys Mental Golf Tips?

Clients, as well, expect and demand that from them. Translation providers deliver products of quality not only to meet client requirements and assure they will retain their services again, but also to attend to other important issues reputation, commitment to society, legal and financial implications, etc. This is indeed such an important aspect of translation; it must be given special attention. What does quality in translation mean and how do we get there?

First of all, there are basic quality standards that should be met in every translation product. Therefore, there should be a separate step to address quality in the translation process and, when possible, two separate individuals to perform translation and quality tasks. Additionally, there are many tools that range from CAT or TenT to style guides and checklists that help achieve this goal.

Finally, quality is an ongoing process that starts from the first contact between translation provider and client, it continues to when the product is delivered and should end with a follow-up to measure satisfaction and obtain feedback.

See a Problem?

Even when time constraints or the availability of linguists are an issue, certain techniques can be used to assure the best quality product is delivered. Independently of where you stand in the process, quality should be looked at as a goal that can only be achieved when a team effort is made. Alexander Rainof Legal translation is both a science and an art.

The method of the presentation shall be inductive. Starting with legal texts in English and Spanish representative of specific translation problems Enumeration of almost synonymous terms separated only by shades of meaning, terms that might and might not be cognates, choice of equivalents based on the internal evidence of the text, visualization of abstract language as concrete situations, etc.

A methodology for dealing with syntactically complex legal texts, based on textual analysis techniques, will be outlined, as well as fundamental references resources and their step by step use in reaching a final version in the target language. Now that we have this knowledge, how do we apply it to our work? How does cultural competence inform our interpretations? Can we, and should we, ever serve as experts in cultural issues as well as linguistic ones?

Purvi Shah The aim of this session will be to share information culled from focus groups with interpreters, including one conducted at the NAJIT conference. In particular, the session will focus on providing information related to addressing vicarious trauma as well as go through a tip sheet developed from the interpreter focus groups on how attorneys can best work with interpreters to serve their clients effectively. This presentation will build on the groundbreaking research I have conducted on interpretation, domestic violence, and developing best practices for the court systems across the United States.

The goal of this session is to provide an opportunity for interpreters to hear the concerns and ideas of their colleagues and to brainstorm new directions for the field as well as their own particular careers.

NAJIT’s thirty-first annual conference info

The session will include handouts, time for discussion, and an opportunity to develop next steps. This session is designed to enable interpreters to see their work in a larger context and provide valuable time for reflection on how to enhance their efficacy. Maria Cristina de la Vega This is a relevant topic that should be of primary interest not only to practitioners but also to the agencies that hire them. My basic premise is that to be successful, a professional interpreter must embody three qualities: In order to implement same an interpreter must have both goals and a system in place to achieve them.

The cited qualities are the three legs of the stool. Likewise, if those you interact with do not perceive you to have the moral integrity to treat them fairly, the other two attributes alone will not allow you to be successful. Samples will be provided Applicable certifications and references from colleagues are also considered. To ask other readers questions about Effective Attorney Work through an Interpreter , please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about Effective Attorney Work through an Interpreter. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Oct 13, Silvia Dominguez rated it it was amazing. For attorneys and court interpreters Recommended not only for attorneys, excellent for court interpreters students. It gives examples that could be really helpful in the State Exam. Angel Floros rated it it was amazing Jan 30, Zelena added it Sep 21, There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Arguing a client's case before a judge or jury in a court of law is the traditional province of the barrister in England, and of advocates in some civil law jurisdictions.

In England today, the barrister monopoly covers only appellate courts, and barristers must compete directly with solicitors in many trial courts. In some countries, litigants have the option of arguing pro se , or on their own behalf. It is common for litigants to appear unrepresented before certain courts like small claims courts ; indeed, many such courts do not allow lawyers to speak for their clients, in an effort to save money for all participants in a small case.

Unrepresented parties often damage their own credibility or slow the court down as a result of their inexperience. Often, lawyers brief a court in writing on the issues in a case before the issues can be orally argued. They may have to perform extensive research into relevant facts and law while drafting legal papers and preparing for oral argument.

In England, the usual division of labor is that a solicitor will obtain the facts of the case from the client and then brief a barrister usually in writing. In Spain, the procurator merely signs and presents the papers to the court, but it is the advocate who drafts the papers and argues the case. In some countries, like Japan, a scrivener or clerk may fill out court forms and draft simple papers for lay persons who cannot afford or do not need attorneys, and advise them on how to manage and argue their own cases. In most developed countries, the legislature has granted original jurisdiction over highly technical matters to executive branch administrative agencies which oversee such things.

As a result, some lawyers have become specialists in administrative law. In a few countries, there is a special category of jurists with a monopoly over this form of advocacy; for example, France formerly had conseils juridiques who were merged into the main legal profession in An important aspect of a lawyer's job is developing and managing relationships with clients or the client's employees, if the lawyer works in-house for a government or corporation. The client-lawyer relationship often begins with an intake interview where the lawyer gets to know the client personally, discovers the facts of the client's case, clarifies what the client wants to accomplish, shapes the client's expectations as to what actually can be accomplished, begins to develop various claims or defenses, and explains her or his fees to the client.

In England, only solicitors were traditionally in direct contact with the client. Legal advice is the application of abstract principles of law to the concrete facts of the client's case in order to advise the client about what they should do next. In many countries, only a properly licensed lawyer may provide legal advice to clients for good consideration , even if no lawsuit is contemplated or is in progress. Failure to obey such a rule is the crime of unauthorized practice of law. In other countries, jurists who hold law degrees are allowed to provide legal advice to individuals or to corporations, and it is irrelevant if they lack a license and cannot appear in court.

In virtually all countries, patents , trademarks , industrial designs and other forms of intellectual property must be formally registered with a government agency in order to receive maximum protection under the law. In some countries, the negotiating and drafting of contracts is considered to be similar to the provision of legal advice, so that it is subject to the licensing requirement explained above.

Lawyers in some civil law countries traditionally deprecated "transactional law" or "business law" as beneath them. French law firms developed transactional departments only in the s when they started to lose business to international firms based in the United States and the United Kingdom where solicitors have always done transactional work. Conveyancing is the drafting of the documents necessary for the transfer of real property , such as deeds and mortgages.

In some jurisdictions, all real estate transactions must be carried out by a lawyer or a solicitor where that distinction still exists. In others, the use of a lawyer is optional and banks, title companies, or realtors may be used instead. In many countries, only lawyers have the legal authority to draft wills , trusts , and any other documents that ensure the efficient disposition of a person's property after death. In some civil law countries this responsibility is handled by civil law notaries. In the United States, the estates of the deceased must generally be administered by a court through probate.

American lawyers have a profitable monopoly on dispensing advice about probate law which has been heavily criticized. In many civil law countries, prosecutors are trained and employed as part of the judiciary; they are law-trained jurists, but may not necessarily be lawyers in the sense that the word is used in the common law world. Criminal defense lawyers specialize in the defense of those charged with any crimes. The educational prerequisites for becoming a lawyer vary greatly from country to country.

In some countries, law is taught by a faculty of law , which is a department of a university's general undergraduate college. In some countries it is common or even required for students to earn another bachelor's degree at the same time. Nor is the LL. B the sole obstacle; it is often followed by a series of advanced examinations, apprenticeships, and additional coursework at special government institutes.

In other countries, particularly the UK and U. Most law schools are part of universities but a few are independent institutions. Many schools also offer post-doctoral law degrees such as the LL.

Lawyer - Wikipedia

The methods and quality of legal education vary widely. Some countries require extensive clinical training in the form of apprenticeships or special clinical courses. In the United States, law schools maintain small class sizes, and as such, grant admissions on a more limited and competitive basis.

Some countries, particularly industrialized ones, have a traditional preference for full-time law programs, [82] while in developing countries, students often work full- or part-time to pay the tuition and fees of their part-time law programs. Law schools in developing countries share several common problems, such as an over reliance on practicing judges and lawyers who treat teaching as a part-time hobby and a concomitant scarcity of full-time law professors ; [85] [86] incompetent faculty with questionable credentials; [87] and textbooks that lag behind the current state of the law by two or three decades.

Some jurisdictions grant a " diploma privilege " to certain institutions, so that merely earning a degree or credential from those institutions is the primary qualification for practicing law. Some countries require a formal apprenticeship with an experienced practitioner, while others do not.

In most common law countries, especially those with fused professions, lawyers have many options over the course of their careers. Besides private practice, they can become a prosecutor , government counsel, corporate in-house counsel, administrative law judge , judge , arbitrator , or law professor.

In most civil law countries, lawyers generally structure their legal education around their chosen specialty; the boundaries between different types of lawyers are carefully defined and hard to cross. Although the French judiciary has begun experimenting with the Anglo-American model of appointing judges from accomplished advocates, the few advocates who have actually joined the bench this way are looked down upon by their colleagues who have taken the traditional route to judicial office.

1. Angela and the Gray Mare.
2. .
3. The Atlas Murders;
4. Lawyer - Wikipedia.

In a few civil law countries, such as Sweden, [] the legal profession is not rigorously bifurcated and everyone within it can easily change roles and arenas. In many countries, lawyers are general practitioners who represent clients in a broad field of legal matters. In countries where specialization is prevalent, many lawyers specialize in representing one side in one particular area of the law; thus, it is common in the United States to hear of plaintiffs' personal injury attorneys.

Navigation menu

To be board certified, attorney applicants undergo a rigorous examination in one of 24 areas of practice offered by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Only those attorneys who are "board certified" are permitted to use the word "specialize" in any publicly accessible materials such as a website or television commercial. See Texas Rule 7. Lawyers in private practice generally work in specialized businesses known as law firms , [] with the exception of English barristers. The vast majority of law firms worldwide are small businesses that range in size from 1 to 10 lawyers.

Notably, barristers in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some states in Australia do not work in "law firms". Those who offer their services to members of the general public—as opposed to those working "in-house" — are required to be self-employed. An important effect of this different organizational structure is that there is no conflict of interest where barristers in the same chambers work for opposing sides in a case, and in some specialized chambers this is commonplace. In some jurisdictions, either the judiciary [] or the Ministry of Justice [] directly supervises the admission, licensing, and regulation of lawyers.

Other jurisdictions, by statute, tradition, or court order, have granted such powers to a professional association which all lawyers must belong to. In the Commonwealth of Nations, similar organizations are known as Inns of Court , bar councils or law societies. Generally, a nonmember caught practicing law may be liable for the crime of unauthorized practice of law.

In common law countries with divided legal professions, barristers traditionally belong to the bar council or an Inn of Court and solicitors belong to the law society. In the English-speaking world, the largest mandatory professional association of lawyers is the State Bar of California , with , members. Some countries admit and regulate lawyers at the national level, so that a lawyer, once licensed, can argue cases in any court in the land. This is common in small countries like New Zealand, Japan, and Belgium. Brazil is the most well-known federal government that regulates lawyers at the national level.

Some countries, like Italy, regulate lawyers at the regional level, [] and a few, like Belgium, even regulate them at the local level that is, they are licensed and regulated by the local equivalent of bar associations but can advocate in courts nationwide. Generally, geographic limitations can be troublesome for a lawyer who discovers that his client's cause requires him to litigate in a court beyond the normal geographic scope of his license. Although most courts have special pro hac vice rules for such occasions, the lawyer will still have to deal with a different set of professional responsibility rules, as well as the possibility of other differences in substantive and procedural law.

Some countries grant licenses to non-resident lawyers, who may then appear regularly on behalf of foreign clients. Others require all lawyers to live in the jurisdiction or to even hold national citizenship as a prerequisite for receiving a license to practice. But the trend in industrialized countries since the s has been to abolish citizenship and residency restrictions. For example, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a citizenship requirement on equality rights grounds in , [] and similarly, American citizenship and residency requirements were struck down as unconstitutional by the U.

Supreme Court in and , respectively. A key difference among countries is whether lawyers should be regulated solely by an independent judiciary and its subordinate institutions a self-regulating legal profession , [] or whether lawyers should be subject to supervision by the Ministry of Justice in the executive branch. In most civil law countries, the government has traditionally exercised tight control over the legal profession in order to ensure a steady supply of loyal judges and bureaucrats.

That is, lawyers were expected first and foremost to serve the state, and the availability of counsel for private litigants was an afterthought. Of all the civil law countries, Communist countries historically went the farthest towards total state control, with all Communist lawyers forced to practice in collectives by the mids. In contrast, common law lawyers have traditionally regulated themselves through institutions where the influence of non-lawyers, if any, was weak and indirect despite nominal state control.

However, the concept of the self-regulating profession has been criticized as a sham which serves to legitimize the professional monopoly while protecting the profession from public scrutiny. Lawyers are always free to form voluntary associations of their own, apart from any licensing or mandatory membership that may be required by the laws of their jurisdiction. Like their mandatory counterparts, such organizations may exist at all geographic levels.

In some countries, like France and Italy , lawyers have also formed trade unions. Hostility towards the legal profession is a widespread phenomenon. The legal profession was abolished in Prussia in and in France in , though both countries eventually realized that their judicial systems could not function efficiently without lawyers. Public distrust of lawyers reached record heights in the United States after the Watergate scandal.

In Adventures in Law and Justice , legal researcher Bryan Horrigan dedicated a chapter to "Myths, Fictions, and Realities" about law and illustrated the perennial criticism of lawyers as "amoral [