About the LEP’s Right to “Hear Everything” in Court Janis Palma [caption id="attachment_37467" align="alignleft" width="300"] The United States Supreme Court building, a symbol of justice and the rule of law[/caption] One of the rules of thumb that interpreters often follow in court is the if-then structure, which we...
The Importance of Being Called by Your Name By: Ann Heath-Huynh As the year draws close to an end, we all seem to have different reasons to be scrambling about. Perhaps, in a rush to close business deals or to buy Christmas presents, or planning holiday events. We...
The Day of the Dead: El Día de Muertos – A Lesson in Adapting to Change By Reme Bashi [caption id="attachment_37368" align="alignright" width="225"] A striking portrayal of La Catrina in front of an intricately carved stone archway during El Día de Muertos celebrations[/caption] If you are unfamiliar with El...
Breaking Attorney Client Privilege: “Who, Me?” By: Hilda Shymanik [caption id="attachment_37318" align="alignright" width="300"] A glimpse of popular productivity and design tools on a device screen, including Zoom for virtual meetings.[/caption] A few months ago, while working remotely during a bond hearing, I was interpreting in the consecutive mode...
It’s Always a Good Day to Make New Friends By: The NAJIT Observer Meet NAJIT’s new Publishing Coordinator and Editor-In-Chief, Julli Jaramillo. Her C.V. will tell you that she graduated from New York University with a Master’s in Translation, specializing in Spanish-to-English and legal translation. Her background...
Have you ever been on assignments that booked you for a hearing but turned out to be a full-length trial? One that involves extensive evidence submission and multiple witnesses. These situations are inevitable as sometimes thing changes at the last minute. But what can we...
Any seasoned interpreter will tell you why we work in teams on long assignments. There is research on the matter of interpreter fatigue and the negative effect it has on accuracy and appropriate rendition. Team interpreting has been done at least since the Nuremberg trials,...
To quote Shakespeare, “apparel oft proclaims the man”. It has taken me over a year to finally have the courage to write this blog. The reason for my delay was that I did not wish to offend anyone. I realized that many interpreters believe that their...
Let me begin with a disclaimer: documentation about the early codes of ethics for judiciary interpreters, also called codes of professional responsibility, is scant or lost altogether. I am writing mostly from memory and some documents I have been able to track down, which means...
Introduction As an interpreter with over 22 years of experience, I have witnessed the evolving dynamics within our profession. In Wisconsin, there is a shortage of court-certified interpreters. However, this shortage is not due to a lack of potentially qualified professionals but rather a failure in...