The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2017 - 9

OUTREACH REPORT

BY ANTONIO E. GUERRA

Navigating Language Access in Legal Proceedings
at the Philadelphia Bar Association

A

s members of ATA's Public Relations Committee, those of us
assigned as event speakers were asked last year to identify
groups or organizations in our area that might be target
or receptive audiences to our mission of promoting professional
language services. Being most comfortable with the legal
profession because of my many years interpreting for depositions,
I approached the Philadelphia Bar Association last fall about
presenting a nuts and bolts review on proceedings that involve a
foreign language and require professional linguistic support.
My proposal was accepted enthusiastically. I was asked to
develop my one-hour presentation into a three-hour continuing
legal education seminar (CLE) that included an ethics credit.
Given the opportunity to communicate in detail the ins and outs
of our profession to a captive audience, I promptly accepted to
present the course on March 8, 2017.
The driving force behind this presentation came from
the realization that the level of knowledge, experience, and
comprehension for many attorneys, paralegals, and court
personnel was uneven at best and, at worst, possibly also risky to
clients, legal providers, and due process itself. As a fundamental
principle of law, attorneys, judges, and the courts should provide
a sound and reliable system of language access services. This
will help ensure fairness and the basic right to justice, and
promote the integrity and accuracy of judicial proceedings.
Limited-English-proficient (LEP) individuals participating in a
legal environment should be able to do so in a language they
understand, and all parties should be able to comprehend one
another throughout the proceedings.
The three-hour interactive CLE session provided an in-depth
look at what has and continues to generate the growing need for
language access, why it's so important, how it's structured so as to
achieve effective results, and the circumstances when it's required
by law. Topics included:
1. The growing demand and challenges of professional language
access in courts and private practice;
2. The perils of inadequate or nonexistent professional
language access;
3. The language services resources that are available and in place
for fair and effective due process;
4. The local impact of foreign languages and LEP populations
due to immigration and changing demographics in the courts,
health care, education, and business;
5. The complexity of the cognitive, verbal, technical, and
physical skills required of a professional interpreter
and translator;
6. The rigorous training of legal translators and interpreters
and the ethical standards and cultural nuances that govern

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There is an appetite and willingness from the legal
community to learn and cooperate with language
professionals in support of LEP individuals.

and manifest in daily practice of the profession in legal
proceedings; and
7. Practical tips, do's and don'ts for attorneys working with
interpreters during cross-examination and depositions.
Within these categories, additional subtext covered issues
around voire dire and proper identification of LEP persons, a
humorous disaster video satirizing the use of a single "polyglot"
interpreter for an international meeting with multiple languages,
a step-by-step guide to Philadelphia language advocate Judge
Chen's courtroom proceedings when an interpreter is involved,
as well as many links to case law, resources, and services useful
to attorneys.
Cognizant of my own limitations, I invited a prestigious panel
of local and state court, government, immigration, and linguistic
experts for the last hour to present their unique perspectives and
offer qualified guidance, while I served as moderator during the
Q&A session. Panelists included:

Osvaldo R. Avilés
Administrator of the Interpreter Certification Program
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
American Translators Association

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2017
