Fish: How to Know When You Need an Interpreter

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 | 0

The Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation recently adopted a set of guidelines to be utilized when an interpreter is used in a court proceeding.

Mike Fish

Personally, I have used an interpreter at trial numerous times and for deposition even more. On one occasion, I was hired to take the deposition of a claimant who moved from California to Alabama. It was a California claim, but the insurance company hired me for the sole purpose of deposing the claimant.

The company scheduled the deposition and hired the interpreter. As a side note, you do not ever want to refer to a professional interpreter as a translator. They do not like it and will be quick to correct you.

Back to the story. When the deposition began, I went through my usual rules where I instruct the interpreter to interpret only what I am saying, and not to answer any question on his/her own, and I instruct the deponent to direct his/her questions to me only through the interpreter.

With that, we began. About 30 minutes into the deposition, rules were broken, so I went off the record and went through them again. When I asked if the rules were understood, the deponent said yes. After staring at him for a few seconds, I asked if he understood English. He replied that he did. He said he was from California, not Mexico. When I asked why we were using an interpreter, he replied that he had been wondering the same thing, but he thought he should follow my instructions.

The following is a summary of the guidelines adopted in by the Tennessee Bureau of WC:

• Use professional interpreters only. No more family members, co-workers or paralegals interpreting — even for settlements, status hearings and motions.
• Ensure full interpretation by waiting for each sentence to be interpreted. This will take longer for sure, but we can be patient.
• No simultaneous interpretation will be permitted. This is where the interpreter whispers into the limited English proficient person’s ear while the trial is ongoing. It’s just too hard for the interpreter and the LEP person to process all the information, and it’s distracting to the others in the courtroom.
• Review protocols with the interpreter and counsel beforehand. The judge will instruct the interpreter to convey exactly what is said. The interpreter will ask the judge or speaking party to explain a question or statement if the LEP person needs an explanation before answering. Also, the interpreter will not provide an explanation on his own.
• Provide training to interpreters on workers’ compensation law. We have our own peculiar language and processes. This will make them better interpreters.

Alabama has not yet adopted a set of guidelines. Hopefully, if and when such guidelines are being considered, they will add one more item to the above list:

• Confirm interpreter is needed. Ask the witness if he/she speaks and understands the English language.

Mike Fish is an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden LLC, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. This entry is republished, with permission, from the firm's Alabama Workers' Comp Blawg.