Attorneys Need to Speak Spanish to Be Successful

Lawyers who speak Spanish are bound to be successful. Why is this? The Hispanic and Latino population in the US is the largest minority group in the country. Nearly 15 percent of the total population in the US comprises of Hispanics and Latinos. Also, in some states, like Wisconsin, the Spanish-speaking population has surged and grown substantial enough for lawyers to wake up and realize that this is one community that is under-represented in the legal domain.

Furthermore, it is important for lawyers to realize that there around 500 million people in the world that speak Spanish and also Spanish is the official language in 21 countries. In fact, after English and Mandarin, Spanish is the most spoken language across the world. As the world is moving towards globalization and businesses are operating in different countries, there is a need for lawyers to understand legal systems in different countries, especially the Spanish speaking countries. Also, lawyers who speak Spanish will be culturally more sensitive to their clients and will be able to have a better relationship with their clients.

In the US, most schools tend to be monolingual. This means that students are at a disadvantage when it comes to joining the workforce, as they are often beaten by bilingual workers from other countries. So even law schools have realized how important it is for lawyers to learn Spanish and cater to the large Spanish speaking community in the US as well as abroad. Law schools like Columbia Law School, Michigan Law School, Georgetown University Law School and Boalt Hall of University of California Berkeley have started offering students law classes in Spanish. These law schools have realized that if attorneys want to be successful after passing their Bar exams, they need to know Spanish.

It has also been observed through analysis, that when law students are exposed to law classes in Spanish, they are better able to understand the difference between the jurisprudence existing in the US and Latin America. Hence, they are more sensitive to their Spanish speaking clients and can communicate with them to put them at ease.

Just like any other person, even Spanish speaking people get stressed out when they are charged with state or federal crimes. However, if they cannot turn to lawyers who speak Spanish, these people may get convicted wrongly. Studies have shown that Spanish speaking people are the highest ethnic population in US federal prisons. Perhaps, it is possible that many of these convicts have been wrongly incarcerated as they could not communicate in English and ended up owning up crimes that they did not commit.

Lawyers who speak Spanish should also look at answering services for attorneys. If these lawyers can get bilingual answering services for attorneys, they will be able to open up a channel of communication with Spanish speaking people, who are looking for lawyers and attorneys.

A lawyer’s job is not a 9 to 5 job. Hence, a lawyer has to be accessible at all times for their clients or people who might need legal counsel. By having bilingual answering services for attorneys, the lawyer can be certain that their Spanish speaking clients and prospective clients can get in touch at any time. This is definitely a hallmark of a successful lawyer.

Just speaking Spanish is not sufficient to be a successful lawyer. The lawyer should also have answering services for attorneys, so that clients or people charged with a crime can get in touch. Lawyers have to take measures to ensure their success. This can be done by learning Spanish and assisting Spanish speaking people who are charge with state or federal crimes. Furthermore, a bilingual lawyer proficient in Spanish and English will be able to investigate the matter thoroughly, look for conspiracies against the accused and also ensure that accused has minimal stress. When a person, who is not proficient in English, gets charged with a crime, it can be extremely stressful for the person and their family. However, if the person can speak to lawyers who speak Spanish, it will ease the stress and the person will be able to narrate their side of the story.

Lawyers who speak Spanish need not always be criminal defense attorneys. They can also be experts in other fields of law. This means that they will be filling a niche that has long been vacant. There is sufficient scope for lawyers to get clients from the Spanish speaking community in their city. However, to be able to handle the problems of this community properly, it is a must for the lawyers to learn Spanish.

Hopefully, the new lawyers that leave law schools will have Spanish speaking skills, as law schools have realized the importance of teaching this language to their students. However, lawyers who speak Spanish also have to look at bilingual answering services for attorneys so that prospective clients as well as current clients can reach them regardless of the time when the need arises.

Bilingual Businesses Are More Successful Than Those Who Only Speak English

For a long time the United States was predominantly a monolingual country, with English being spoken by people across all economic strata. However, as Hispanics began migrating to the US and their number began growing, there was a shift in the dynamics. Today, around 15 percent of the US population comprises of Hispanics. This chunk of the population has more spending power than it did before. Hence, companies are looking to market their products and services to them. If these companies do not use the same language, they will be alienating this section of the population. So this has led to a demand for bilingual employees. However, we must not forget that the United States is home to many other nationalities, which come here to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Most consumers prefer doing business with people, who are conversant in their language. This means that bilingual companies are better placed to target consumers, who are not native speakers of English. This allows these companies to communicate with their customers in their own language. Hence, customers are more comfortable dealing with bilingual businesses than monolingual businesses.

Also, thanks to globalization, companies are no longer content with just operating within American borders. They are expanding their business interests, so they now have a multi-cultural workforce. It has been seen that bilingual companies end up being more flexible and adaptive compared to monolingual companies. The bilingual workforce help a company to expand into new markets seamlessly and any cultural gaps are bridged with the help of this workforce. Hence, bilingual businesses are more successful in the constantly changing business environment of today. Many of these companies have HR policies in different languages, so that their multicultural workforce can properly understand these policies and there is no room for misunderstandings or ambiguities.

Furthermore, there are companies that have established their own call centers. These call centers are meant for consumers and potential customers who have queries, issues or want certain information. Considering the global working of the companies and the multicultural population in the US, it is imperative that these call centers can cater to callers, who may not just be native English speakers. So if a company has a call center, it will benefit from having a bilingual answering services.

In fact, the importance of being bilingual has also filtered down to the education industry. The US has laws that ensure students with limited English proficiency are not excluded from schools and educational institutes. These students are often instructed in their own language to help them understand what is being taught at school. However, researchers tend to believe that bilingual education should be emphasized in US schools, as the current language of instruction used in most schools is English. In Quebec, Canada, it has been seen that when English speaking students are instructed in solely in French, they tend to have a better grasp of the language. This is known as immersion instruction, where monolingual students are instructed in another language. Furthermore, research has shown that these students do not lose their proficiency in English and can perform at par with students that speak just English. Hence, researchers and educationists are stressing the need to use immersion method of teaching even in the US.

If students get bilingual education from the very beginning, they will be equipped with language skills that will help them in the job market. Companies today prefer bilingual employees over monolingual employees. Such employees do not have to spend their time learning a second language, as they already have the necessary skills. So right from the beginning, they can make a meaningful contribution towards the growth of the company.

Today, many industries use call centers to address the questions and concerns of their consumers. Financial institutions, Department of State, healthcare, educational institutes, Census Bureau, SSA, fast moving consumer goods sector, information technology, and even non-profit organizations have established calls centers that work with non-English speaking people. These organizations need bilingual answering service to communicate with this group of people. These organizations realize the importance of using bilingual answering service to connect with people who do not speak English. As a result, non-English speaking consumers are more comfortable with these companies, as they know their concerns and queries will be dealt properly and professionally.

By not using bilingual answering service, businesses will alienate a sizeable chunk of consumers, who have spending power. As a result, these consumers will move on to a business, which has the language skills to handle their concerns and questions. That is why bilingual businesses are more successful than those who only speak English. Just as the education industry has realized the importance of bilingual education, monolingual businesses should wake up and realize the importance of having bilingual answering service and bilingual employees.