Breaking Down Language Barriers at the SBLC

The Small Business Legal Clinic is working to increase visibility and outreach within immigrant and refugee communities. Breaking down language barriers is one of the biggest challenges when working with non-English dominant clients. As a result, the SBLC has focused on developing and giving presentations either in other languages or with interpretation into other languages throughout the Tri-county Area. This fall alone, the clinic gave three presentations in Spanish, one in Beaverton, one in Hillsboro and one in Portland. Two presentations were given in Russian, both in Portland. The SBLC plans to give a presentation in Vietnamese this spring.

The SBLC is hoping to recruit new attorneys who bring diverse languages abilities that will allow them to speak directly to clients without the need for interpreters. The SBLC already relies on interns and attorneys who speak Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Romanian, Japanese and Vietnamese. Please contact Director Julieanna Elegant at jelegant@lclark.edu if you would like to volunteer and have fluency in another language.