I am a legal translator, not a lawyer. If you need legal assistance, you should consult a lawyer. If you find legislation or case law that appears to address the issue that interests you, it is entirely possible that subsequent case law or legislation may have superseded it. It is also possible that this case law or legislation involves assumptions that don’t apply to you. It is alright to take these citations to the lawyer’s office with you and provide them to the lawyer for discussion, let the lawyer make the decision about the relevance, or lack thereof.
If you (like many of us) don’t hire attorneys often, here are some ways to find them:
a) Your local yellow pages.b) The Martindale-Hubbell directory. Your local library probably has a copy. There’s also an electronic version you can view here.c) FindLaw has a feature allowing you to look for attorneys associated with these sites.d) UpCounsel will allow you to contact a lawyer.e) Your state bar association can provide you with general advice on finding a lawyer and can give you general advice on vetting a lawyer before you hire him or her. To find your state’s bar association, run the name of the state and "bar association" through your favorite search engine. Some state bar associations run referral services.
You, as a legal translator, often know more about law than the average person. Unless you are also an attorney, you should not be doing anything that resembles practicing law. Some things you should not be doing if you are not a lawyer:
a) You should not rewrite legal documents to meet American legal standards unless you are doing so under the supervision of an attorney and the attorney is checking your work.b) You should not comment on whether your client has enough evidence to accomplish some desired purpose or whether he or she is likely to prevail in a given case.c) You should not tell your client which forms to fill out, although translating the individual entries and writing down the answers on a form the client has provided is okay.d) You should not be in a courtroom with your client unless your client is represented by counsel (or your client is a lawyer) and the lawyer approves of your presence. In such cases, you should discuss your role with the lawyer.
If you (like many of us) don’t hire attorneys often, here are some ways to find them:
a) Your local yellow pages.b) The Martindale-Hubbell directory. Your local library probably has a copy. There’s also an electronic version you can view here.c) FindLaw has a feature allowing you to look for attorneys associated with these sites.d) UpCounsel will allow you to contact a lawyer.e) Your state bar association can provide you with general advice on finding a lawyer and can give you general advice on vetting a lawyer before you hire him or her. To find your state’s bar association, run the name of the state and "bar association" through your favorite search engine. Some state bar associations run referral services.
You, as a legal translator, often know more about law than the average person. Unless you are also an attorney, you should not be doing anything that resembles practicing law. Some things you should not be doing if you are not a lawyer:
a) You should not rewrite legal documents to meet American legal standards unless you are doing so under the supervision of an attorney and the attorney is checking your work.b) You should not comment on whether your client has enough evidence to accomplish some desired purpose or whether he or she is likely to prevail in a given case.c) You should not tell your client which forms to fill out, although translating the individual entries and writing down the answers on a form the client has provided is okay.d) You should not be in a courtroom with your client unless your client is represented by counsel (or your client is a lawyer) and the lawyer approves of your presence. In such cases, you should discuss your role with the lawyer.