Legal Language Services ranks Massachusetts as a state with heavily regulated legal interpreting requirements.
Legal Language Services ranks Massachusetts as a state with heavily regulated legal interpreting requirements.
Massachusetts state authorities periodically offer exams, both written and oral, for certification based on the guidelines of the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification.
The state of Massachusetts also offers federal court certification and accepts certification from member states of the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification and NAJIT (National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators).
Massachusetts offers certification in 18 languages:
The Massachusetts Judicial Department defines legal interpreters in the following three ways:
Not all venues in Massachusetts require certified interpreters, even for Spanish-language cases. However, they are strongly preferred. Please consult with Legal Language Services for the rules pertaining to your specific venue and language.
According to a recent American Community Survey, approximately 21.07% of the Massachusetts population speaks a language other than English.
What’s more, more than 72% of the non-English speaking population of Massachusetts speaks one of the following to languages:
Other languages spoken in Massachusetts include Mon-Khmer/Cambodian, Polish, Cantonese, German, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Kru/Ibo/Yoruba, Tagalog, Japanese, Gujarathi, Albanian, Hebrew, Armenian, Tamil, Telugu, Persian, Urdu and Bengali.
*This table was created based on respondents’ written answers, the majority of whom wrote “Chinese” while others specified “Cantonese” or “Mandarin.”
There are 14 judicial districts in Massachusetts that encompass 14 counties. However, certification requirements in Massachusetts are statewide and remain consistent across all local jurisdictions.
Call Legal Language Services at 1-800-788-0450 to find Massachusetts interpreters who meet state interpreting rules for courtroom trials, hearings, depositions, arbitrations and other legal proceedings.
The content provided on this page is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The information about legal interpreting guidelines in Massachusetts is believed to be accurate at the time of posting; however, Legal Language Services is not responsible for any errors or omissions.