Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

• Publication year: 2021
• Pages: 0046

Office of the General Counsel No. Vol. 27 No. 3 Pg. 46 Georgia Bar Journal December, 2021

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

BY PAULA FREDERICK

"I'm surprised to see we took Ms. Rahman's case," you say to your partner as you enter her office. "I thought you decided the language barrier was just too much to deal with?"

"Two minutes into our 'conversation' I realized I'd completely forgotten the Urdu my Nana taught me," your partner admits. "But I told Ms. Rahman she had to find an interpreter, and she came back with her brother-in-law. From what I could tell, he did a pretty good job explaining things, so we agreed to use him. The price is right—he's doing it for free!"

"But how do you know he's accurately translating?" you ask. "He might be biased. Does he have any legal training? Did you talk to him about confidentiality?"

"Not yet, but we'll figure it out," your partner assures you.

"Um ... I don't think that's how it's supposed to work," you say doubtfully.

What are a lawyer's obligations when she and her client do not speak the same language?

The American Bar Association recently issued Formal Opinion 500, Language Access in the Client-Lawyer Relationship (Oct. 6, 2021), to help answer that question. The opinion finds that a lawyer's duties do not change because of communication problems; in fact, communication barriers often require the lawyer to take extra steps to ensure compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.4, Communication, sets out the basics. A lawyer and client must be able to communicate in order to establish and maintain the relationship. Without appropriate communication, the lawyer may not fully understand the client's needs, and the client may not be able to participate meaningfully in the representation.

When the lawyer and client speak different languages, Formal Opinion 500 says that "the lawyer must take measures to establish a reasonably effective mode of communication" by using a qualified, properly trained, and impartial translator or interpreter.^[1] In some circumstances electronic translation services or apps may be all...