Spanish for Lawyers

Spanish for Lawyers reinforces and enhances students existing Spanish communication skills for legal practice. Class instruction, course readings, and assignments are primarily in Spanish. Students are expected to have a working level of Spanish language fluency (written and oral) to enroll in the course. Native-like or "advanced placement" levels of fluency are not required; however, a student should feel prepared to speak, read, and write in Spanish throughout the course. The course explores a range of legal practice areas, while building student practical lawyering skills when representing Spanish speaking clients. The course focuses on public interest law, such as immigration, consumer protection, criminal, worker's rights, housing rights and family law. The course explores theoretical frames of access to justice for limited English- speaking communities and best practices for creating access to justice for these communities. Students will learn how to apply these language skills as future lawyers representing Spanish dominant clients and communities. This course will emphasize Spanish legal oral, written, listening skills and critical analysis. The course will highlight cross-cultural and linguistic challenges that may influence successful lawyering with Spanish dominant clients and communities. Students will also develop a trauma-informed and anti-racist theoretical frame when working with communities with linguistic diversity. The class will include an analytical court visit through the lens of access to justice for Spanish dominant clients and communities.