Justice in Any Language
Moriah Nelson, Language Access Fellow
Volunteer Lawyers Project & Massachusetts Language Access Coalition
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Language Access in Pro Bono
Statewide Coalition Building &
Language Access Advocacy
Volunteer Lawyers Project
of the Boston Bar Association
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Established in 1977 by the Boston Bar Association
LSC Funded - $2 million budget
Serves Greater Boston Area
Legal Advocacy and Resource Center does intake, information and
referrals.
16 staff members: ED, 8 attorneys, 3 paralegals and 3 admin staff
Panel of about 900 volunteer attorneys, paralegals and law students
Types of Cases:
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Housing: eviction private and public and both landlord and tenant, affirmative
conditions, transfers, home ownership including foreclosure prevention
Family: divorce and paternity, child support including downward modifications for
certain obligors; adoption
Probate: guardianship of minors and incapacitated adults; trusts and estate issues
including probating of estates, health care proxies
Consumer: Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy, consumer practices (Fair Debt Collection Act
Practices, Chapter 93A etc)
Employment: unemployment, MCAD
www.vlpnet.org
VLP Case Flowchart
LARC Intake Referrals
Court Clinics
Special Projects
VLP staff meets with client,
assess case for referral or provides brief assistance,
prepares referral memo.
• Training
• Mentoring
• Technical Assistance
Referral Coordinator
Volunteer Attorney
LEP Client
Interpreter
VLP LEP Population
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MA ranked 8th largest LEP population in US at 8.8%
14.5% of MA residents are foreign born
MA has second highest native-born LEP population
(Puerto Rico is first)
72% of MA LEP population is in Greater Boston
About 15% of VLP clients are LEP
Most common languages of VLP clients:
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Spanish (over 50% of VLP’s LEP clients)
Haitian Creole
Cantonese
Vietnamese
How does VLP ensure that LEP clients
have the same opportunity to receive pro
bono services as English speaking clients?
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Organization Priority
VLP LEP Working Group
Policy, Plan & Procedures
Interpreters & Translators
Training
Leveraging Volunteers
1. Organization Priority
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Commitment to serving LEP clients equally
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Title VI is an unfunded mandate
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Operating cost – like the light bill
Line item for language services in budget
Include language access in grant proposals
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VLP only pro bono program in MA that provides and
pays for qualified interpreters in every case.
LSC, Mifflin Memorial Fund, Boston Bar Foundation
Hire qualified bilingual staff
2. VLP LEP Working Group
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Executive Director support
Formed in 2011
Identify barriers and ways to increase access
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Signage in office
Spanish speaking staff at court clinics and access to phone
interpreter
Survey LEP clients
Time study
YouTube Training Channel
Translated Document Bank
Trainings
3. Policy, Plan & Procedures
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VLP Language Access Plan & Protocol
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Tools:
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DOJ Assessment & Planning Tool for Federally Assisted Programs
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Language Access Checklist
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Creating a More Language Accessible Legal Services Practice
4. Interpreters & Translators
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Create accessible list of qualified interpreters and
translators
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LOTUS Notes – list qualifications & skills (i.e. translation)
Quality Control
 Application/Initial Screening
 Meeting/Interview with Referral Coordinator
 Interpreter Protocol & Code of Ethics (2006)
Phone Interpreters – Optimal Phone Interpreters
$35/hour oral interpretation
$40/page written translation
5. Training
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Annual VLP Staff Training
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Interpreter Skills Building Training
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Working with an Interpreter
Language Access Plan & Protocol
Language Access Issues in Case Handling
Bilingual Staff
Privately Contracted Interpreters
Working with an Interpreter &
Representing a LEP Client
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Volunteer Attorneys & Law Students
6. Leveraging Volunteers & Resources
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Translation of Documents
 Pro bono translation firm
 Volunteer translators
 Pay for proofreading
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Bilingual AmeriCorps Volunteers
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Bilingual Law Student or Grad Student Interns
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Partnerships with Community Based Organizations
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Pro bono interpretation using law firm language resources
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FREE Training Resources: staff, online, local experts, etc.
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Interpreter Training Program interns and other resources
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Language Access in Pro Bono
Statewide Coalition Building &
Language Access Advocacy
Language Access Coalition
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The Language Access Coalition (LAC) is a group of legal advocates
across Massachusetts interested in language access issues in:
1. Legal Service Organizations
2. State Agencies
3. Courts
LAC works to advance the rights of limited English proficient clients
in these forums.
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Formed in 2010
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Meet on 1st Monday of each month
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Statewide listserv
1. Legal Service Organizations
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Liaison from each LSO to LAC
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Language Access Plan & Protocol
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Statewide Telephonic Interpreter Contract
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Annual Training/Conference on Language Access
Issues
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Interpreter Skills Building Training for bilingual
staff and contracted interpreters
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MassLegalServices.org Resource Library
www.MassLegalServices.org
2. State Agencies
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Develop relationship with Office of Access and
Opportunity
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Administration & Finance Bulletin #16
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Post Language Access Plans on MLS
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Submit Complaints to Agencies
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Written comment for revision of Bulletin #16
Advocate for statewide meeting of agency
Language Access Coordinators
3. State Courts
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Develop relationship with Office of Court
Interpreter Services & MA Trial Court Personnel
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Letter to 5 representatives who went to NCSC
Language Access Summit and follow up meetings
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SJI Grant to implement ABA Standards in a Model
Language Access Courthouse
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Accessibility in Clerk’s Office – Pilot
at Suffolk Probate and Family Court
www.MassLegalHelp.org
Finding Collaborators
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Access to Justice Commission
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Pro Bono Managers of Firms
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Community Based Organizations
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Interpreters & Translators
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Other Ideas??
Resources
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www.lep.gov
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N-LAAN Listserv – www.probono.net/nlaan
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N-LAAN List of State Language Access Groups
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www.masslegalservices.org/languageaccess
Questions?
Moriah Nelson
Language Access Fellow
Volunteer Lawyers Project
99 Chauncy Street, Suite 400
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 423-0648 x 138
mnelson@vlpnet.org