Josephine Bahn wrote the article “Formal Ethics Opinion Outlines Client Language Access Duties” for the American Bar Association Litigation Section’s website. This article discusses the Formal Ethics Opinion 500, which provides guidance on a lawyer’s duty to overcome the language barrier when representing the growing number of clients with limited English proficiency or non-cognitive differences or impairments. According to this Opinion, lawyers may now be required to procure the services of an interpreter, translator, or other language-translation or assistance technology to comply with their duties of communication and competence.
To read the full article, click here.