General

The Language Access Section of the Legal Services Corporation website has a number of resources on how legal services programs can ensure that LEP clients can access legal services.  Includes articles and sample policies from programs.  In December 2004, LSC itself issued guidance…

The number of clients who are limited English proficient and eligible for legal services is steadily growing. Programs need to take proactive steps toward making their organization linguistically accessible. Here are some resources that can help. Language Access in Your Program by Moriah…

The Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) created the ILR Language Proficiency Scale as a tool to measure linguistic proficiency of United State Government employees by an objective system applicable to all languages. This is not a test to critique your language proficiency, rather a helpful tool…

The "Your Right to an Interpreter" poster is attached in editable horizontal and vertical formats, which you can edit to meet the needs of your client population. PDF versions are also attached. The English text reads, "You have the right to an interpreter at no cost to you. Please…

Legal aid attorneys are increasing serving limited-English-proficient (LEP) clients bringing claims of discrimination based upon an inability to access an array of government services, such as public benefits, law enforcement, and the courts. While traditional litigation approaches may offer…

The following are links to various posters, flyers and "I Speak" cards.  These materials are translated into many languages.  They help clients who have limited proficiency in English to ask for help and service, including legal services, and to learn about their rights to an…

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants published Standard 4.6 on Communication in the Primary Langauges of Persons Served which states, "A provider should assure that all langauge groups within its low income communities have access to its services…

In the summer of 2003  the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) convened, from both LSC-funded and other legal aid programs, a group of poverty lawyers, all of whom had worked with immigrant clients, to discuss how programs might improve their services to clients with limited English…