Why an Attorney Should Be Fluent in Spanish in the US?
The Hispanic population in the US has grown over the last years and now they are one of the most important minorities in the country.
Thus, the Spanish as a language has become the 2nd most important language in the United States.
In the legal field, this fact should be closely be taken into account by attorneys and paralegal in order to understand how to provide the best service to their Hispanic clients.
At this point you may think that being fluent speaking Spanish is enough to handle a case in that language, but that is not correct.
Do you think an attorney knew legal slang before going to Law School? The answer is only one: no.
Furthermore, Law School are starting to teach some Legal Spanish courses in the last years and most of the lawyers already working in law firms had never acquired that knowledge and they are not skilled to talk in Spanish using the right terms.
The vocabulary is only learned by study law in that particular language because the terms are different and the legal systems too.
Therefore, we reach the first conclusion: attorneys are not prepared to handle cases in any different language than English, even though they may be fluent in other foreign languages.
Second, when a Hispanic client looks for a lawyer, it is very likely that the case will be about immigration or family law (statement based on statistics).
In these particular topics, people deal with the most valuable things for them: visas, divorces, etc.
Therefore, if they are not fluent in English, they would rather prefer to receive advice in their language to make sure they understand everything and here is where our real challenge comes: are you ready for this?
Thus, the Spanish as a language has become the 2nd most important language in the United States.
In the legal field, this fact should be closely be taken into account by attorneys and paralegal in order to understand how to provide the best service to their Hispanic clients.
At this point you may think that being fluent speaking Spanish is enough to handle a case in that language, but that is not correct.
Do you think an attorney knew legal slang before going to Law School? The answer is only one: no.
Furthermore, Law School are starting to teach some Legal Spanish courses in the last years and most of the lawyers already working in law firms had never acquired that knowledge and they are not skilled to talk in Spanish using the right terms.
The vocabulary is only learned by study law in that particular language because the terms are different and the legal systems too.
Therefore, we reach the first conclusion: attorneys are not prepared to handle cases in any different language than English, even though they may be fluent in other foreign languages.
Second, when a Hispanic client looks for a lawyer, it is very likely that the case will be about immigration or family law (statement based on statistics).
In these particular topics, people deal with the most valuable things for them: visas, divorces, etc.
Therefore, if they are not fluent in English, they would rather prefer to receive advice in their language to make sure they understand everything and here is where our real challenge comes: are you ready for this?
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