Training

Personalized guidance for self-represented litigants.

Training for Courts & Legal Providers

In order to be truly responsive and provide meaningful access to justice, courts and legal providers must understand the unique challenges faced by their users and clients when accessing the court or legal services. It is critical they institute effective, engaging, and practical training that helps court staff, judicial officers, and legal services providers address those barriers and uphold the strategies created to overcome them.

Court staff and judicial officers face new challenges as they see increasing numbers of self-represented litigants, many unfamiliar with proper legal procedures, substantive law, and the court system and its operation as a whole. Similarly, the increase in limited-English speaking court users and consumers of legal services has introduced additional difficulties, as courts and providers try to serve their constituents without enough resources to guarantee full and meaningful language access to everyone.

Dynamic training programs that not only expose courts and legal providers to the need for high quality language access services, but also offer practical and concrete tools for providing those services effectively and efficiently with often limited resources are critical. Law Within Reach has been training court staff, judicial officers, and legal services providers on issues of language access and the delivery of language services for over a decade. LWR has created curricula specifically for court staff, judicial officers, bilingual staff, and volunteers, and has conducted trainings throughout California and nationally on language access strategies.

We Can Train Your Team

Understand Language Access Requirements

Understand your responsibilities to provide language access to limited-English proficient individuals at every point of contact with your program, including strategies and tools for providing access.

Implement Access at Every Touchpoint

Develop strategies to ensure that self-represented litigants are supported throughout every state of their interaction with your program, addressing barriers and ensuring meaningful access and a user-friendly approach.

Collaborate Effectively with Interpreters

Gain practical skills for working with interpreters and other language access professionals to improve communication and outcomes.

Leverage Innovative Tools and Technology

Discover how to use digital solutions and creative approaches to expand access and deliver services more efficiently.

Interpreter Training & Education

Most states in the country are experiencing an expansion of interpreter services in all court proceedings and throughout all points of contact with the legal system. Many interpreters, limited in the past to providing services in criminal proceedings or in matters where parties were represented by attorneys, are facing new challenges. In addition to the rigorous and continuing education court interpreters must undertake in order to remain highly competent and qualified, the growing demand for interpreter services in new legal areas and settings requires targeted training efforts to address these challenges.

As an attorney with over 30 years of experience in family law and civil proceedings, as well as over 8 years interpreting in court and other settings, Cristina, LWR’s principal, is uniquely positioned to develop and provide this training. Cristina has led countless educational workshops for court interpreters, engaging participants in dynamic and participatory activities with practical tools and tips for interpreting in civil proceedings.

Examples of training topics Cristina has covered in her interpreting workshops include:

Clear, plain language descriptions of common civil processes
Specific discussions of likely events and proceedings for which interpreters may be required
Glossaries specific to various case types
Specialized terminology and language-building resources
Tips for interpreting for self-represented litigants in an effective and ethical manner