by neznakomka

Created on: December 20, 2008

Speaking to a lawyer in their native language can be less intimidating for many expats and immigrants, and the direct contact between client and lawyer could lessen the chance of distorting the information. Creating a clear picture of the circumstances and taking the right decision should be the most important thing in legal matters, after all.

A good place stop for bilingual legal help could be the Martindale-Hubbell directory, accessible online on http://www.martindale.com/through LexisNexis. Public and law libraries may carry it on paper.

With the long history of 140 years, the directory has been a powerful tool for lawyers and law firms to promote their services.

In the online version, the advanced search feature offers the option to choose a lawyer by a language spoken. There is no a drop-down menu, but the desired language can be typed in the search field. http://www.martindale.com/Find-Lawyers-and-Law-Firms .aspx

The variety of spoken languages offered by lawyers, both popular and rare, is broad. A search for a lawyer who speaks Bulgarian and practices in the United States and Canada, for example, retrieves a total result of 48 names. The search can be also narrowed down by specialty and location.

Another database of lawyers who speak foreign languages is offered by the website http://www.findlaw.com/ .

The language feature is in the advanced search options, and it is necessary to specify the location of the lawyer and the legal issue to deal with. There is a drop-down menu for the languages, although their number is limited to 21:

http://lawyers.findlaw.com/index.html

A third option could be the portal http://www.lawhelp.org/. Supported by the Open Society Institute & Soros Foundation Network, the portal is a gateway to legal information and services in any state. Choosing the state from the list refers to a state-specific site or page, where the information might be translated into Spanish, or might appear in a variety of languages depending on the needs of the population. For example, for the state of New York there are legal aid resources available in 34 languages, among them Armenian, Bengali, German, Laotian, Somali, Vietnamese, etc.:

http://www.lawhelp.org/NY/

The Yellow Pages directories for a specific ethnic group should also be considered when looking for a bilingual legal help. These directories might have a section for legal services. For example, The Russian American Yellow Pages ( http://www.rulist.com/ ) has also a list of Russian attorneys who

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