Pennsylvania Bar Institute

Dramatic demographic changes in the past two decades and the emergence of language-based legal rights have increased the likelihood that you will soon be involved in a proceeding in which an interpreter is needed. Many experienced litigators have no idea of the many traps awaiting the unwary when a party or witness needs an interpreter. To effectively represent your client, you absolutely must have a basic grasp of the role of the interpreter and the special skills that are needed to work with one.

This program features Prof. Holly Mikkelson, a nationally recognized expert on court interpreting who is herself a certified court interpreter and translator. Using a lively discussion format, video clips and handy written reference materials, Prof. Mikkelson, Friends of Farmworkers attorney Arthur Read and the Honorable Marlene Lachman examine a number of skills topics from the differing vantage points of judge, attorney and interpreter.

Critical Topics Include:

• When to ask for an interpreter
• Interpreter qualifications
• Proper voir dire of an interpreter
• How to spot an unqualified interpreter (even if you don’t speak the language)
• Interpreter certification
• The role of the court interpreter
• Use of simultaneous v. consecutive modes of interpreting
• Ethical constraints on professional interpreter conduct
• What a professional interpreter can’t do for you
• How to elicit testimony on direct and cross through an interpreter
• Language traps you never worried about before
• Interpreter fatigue
• The incompetent interpreter
• Protecting or making the record
• What’s missing from the transcript?
• Challenging interpreter error

Recorded October 2004 at Public Interest Law Day.