Category: Legal Interpreting
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The Off Season
I passed an amusement park and noticed cars in the lot. What happens there in the off-season? Is it quiet? Lonely? Or surprisingly busy with the work that makes the visible season possible? Most of what makes a skilled interpreter is off-season work. The preparation no one watches. The reflection…
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Before the Work Begins
The day was bright and beautiful — sunny and clear, warm and cozy in my car. I arrived early. I sat. I finished a chapter. Then I got out, swapped my sweater for a suit jacket, and headed in. There is something important in that sequence. The beauty was not…
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While It’s Still Here
Years from now, when I no longer do this drive, I will miss the long stretches of predictability. The familiar landmarks. The fluid flow of other people moving through their ordinary days alongside mine. I know this. And yet. Presence is not just for the courtroom. It is also for…
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I Wonder
I wonder what all their journeys entail. + What stories will unfold for them today? What meetings, what verdicts, what conversations that change things? What will unfold for me? This is not anxiety. This is not anticipation. It is simply the posture of someone who has not decided in advance…
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The Threshold
Every time, I notice the shift. City gives way to rural. Rural folds back into city. The landscape changes gradually, then all at once — and if you are not paying attention, you miss the exact moment of crossing. Transitions work that way. The threshold between one setting and the…
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Present but Not There
There is a particular kind of absence that looks like presence. Lots of commotion. Lots of motion. But no one actually out and about — no one genuinely engaged with where they are. Y ou can be in a courtroom and do that. You can be in a classroom and…
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The Dance
We ebb and flow like a dance — passing, being passed, slowing together for the unexpected, saying goodbye at exits. No one choreographed it. No one is in charge. And yet it works, because everyone is paying attention to what is happening right now. That is also how it works…
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STOP
STOP. Before you move — Sit. Think. Observe. Plan. The legal setting rewards the interpreter who pauses long enough to find their bearings before acting. The fog doesn’t clear faster if you run through it.
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Do not become an impediment to the unfolding — be a partner with it
Do not become an impediment to the unfolding — be a partner with it There is a larger system and process at play, we step in and it is our job to align ourselves to it, rather than disturb it. Do we appreciate what is happening there and to what…
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What Watching Livestream Court Taught Me About Interpreting (and Why It Matters)
During the pandemic, something quietly transformative happened in the legal system. Court became visible. Not just high-profile trials—the everyday work. Arraignments. Probation violations. Landlord–tenant cases. The mundane, procedural moments that make up the majority of court life. If you’ve spent time watching livestream court, you may have noticed what I…