Same Courthouse. Three Different Jobs.

You get the call. "We need a legal interpreter." Simple enough — until you arrive and realize no one on the hiring side actually knows which kind of legal interpreter they needed. Are you interpreting the proceedings for a Deaf party so they have meaningful access to what's happening in the room? Are you assigned to a Deaf attorney, paralegal, or client for privileged attorney-client communication? Or are you working alongside law enforcement on an investigation — an interrogation, a witness interview, a scene walk-through — where the stakes, the ethics, and even who you're allowed to talk to shift dramatically? These are three fundamentally different roles. They carry different duties, different boundaries, different conflict-of-interest rules, and different consequences when they get confused. And in most of the legal field, they get confused constantly — because the people hiring us don't know the distinctions exist. Staffing Legal Cases Part 2 breaks down the three core roles a court interpreter can be asked to fill: Proceedings Interpreter — the neutral officer of the court interpreting what is said on the record, for the Deaf party and for the court Interpreter for Counsel (IFC) — the interpreter retained by and working under the attorney, inside privileged communication, with a loyalty structure entirely different from the proceedings interpreter Investigative Interpreter — the interpreter working with law enforcement or the State during the investigative phase, before charges, before counsel, sometimes before the Deaf person even understands they're a suspect You'll leave knowing what each role entails, what each role is not, how to recognize when you've been hired for the wrong one, and what to say when the requester doesn't know the difference. What sets this workshop apart: Role confusion is one of the most common — and most consequential — mistakes in legal interpreting. This workshop doesn't just name the roles. It gives you the framework to hold them distinct in your own practice and the scripts to explain the distinctions to attorneys, coordinators, and investigators who need to understand them before the assignment begins. By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:  Define the scope, duties, and limits of the Proceedings Interpreter, Interpreter for Counsel, and Investigative Interpreter roles Identify which role a given assignment actually calls for — even when the requester uses the wrong label Recognize the role conflicts and ethical exposures that arise when these roles get blurred Articulate role distinctions clearly to attorneys, judges, law enforcement, and agency coordinators Who this is for: Working ASL interpreters stepping into court work, interpreters pursuing state legal credentials or specialized legal certification, and agency coordinators staffing legal assignments. Ready to stop walking into assignments unsure which hat you're wearing? Enroll now for instant access to the full workshop, downloadable reference materials, and your CEU certificate upon completion. Only have an hour? That's plenty of time.