Thomas Jefferson to host Spanish legalese course
By DOUG SHERWIN, The Daily Transcript
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thomas Jefferson School of Law will offer a new course titled "Spanish for Legal Professionals" starting in the fall to help both lawyers and their Spanish-speaking clients communicate better.
San Diego attorney Ruben Arizmendi, a 1981 Thomas Jefferson graduate, will teach the course. He practices business and estate law with a 95 percent Spanish-speaking clientele.
During his years of practice, Arizmendi has found that many of his Spanish-speaking clients, and even Spanish-speaking attorneys, might not be able to understand him during legal conversations because English and Latin legal terms don't readily translate into Spanish.
As a result, Arizmendi thinks a kind of "mish-mash of Spanish legalese" has developed in Southern California, which further complicates matters. He said verbatim translations "are often meaningless or absurd."
For example, a Thomas Jefferson spokesman noted, if you say deposition, a Spanish-speaker might think you mean "deposicion" - that you want to depose a ruler. Even the term "corte" for court is not entirely accurate since the more commonly accepted terms among Spanish-speakers is "tribunal" or "juzgado."
"Teaching the Spanish that a lawyer needs to represent the Spanish-speaking population in San Diego is something that this community really needs," said Thomas Jefferson associate dean Steve Semeraro. "It's what Thomas Jefferson Law School is all about - identifying needs in the legal community and finding innovative ways to fulfill them."
Arizmendi's class starts Aug. 30 and runs from 8-9:50 p.m.