Spanish for Lawyers
Description:
With approximately 30 million Spanish-speakers living in the United States, more and more, attorneys are finding they need Spanish language skills in their practice of law. Additionally, as Spain and Latin America continue to provide a wealth of opportunities for business and commerce, U.S. lawyers are realizing the benefits of having fluency in Spanish. This one-week Spanish for Lawyers course will provide students with instruction that will aid them in learning a legal vocabulary in Spanish and some basic legal grammatical structures that will help them more effectively communicate with Spanish-speaking clients. There will be a concerted focus on interviewing techniques in Spanish, through question-writing, interview simulations, performance and feedback. Though we may discuss Latin American and Spanish civil law traditions, the course will focus on legal issues that often affect Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. These may include immigration, housing, family law, domestic violence and the role of interpreting in legal settings. Students should have at least an elementary knowledge of Spanish (undergraduate Spanish I and II) or have had a real world experience with Spanish (i.e., as a heritage speaker or through travels) that would provide the equivalent of having taken Spanish I and II in college.