It Starts with Communication: The Need for Bilingual Attorneys in North Carolina

Thu, Jul 31st, 2025 | by Miles Mediation and Arbitration | Article | Social Share

By James Young

Many attorneys have never been placed in the role of a client. So, think about it. Put yourself in your client’s proverbial shoes. How do you feel? You’re likely to be angry. Anxious. Upset. Frustrated. You’re worried about what’s happening, whether you’re on the plaintiff’s side or the defendant’s, and you want to get this matter resolved. You want your life back.

So, you hire a lawyer — and hope that that lawyer will help you resolve the problem you face. For that to happen, though, you must be able to communicate fully with your attorney. But what happens when you don’t speak the same language, literally, as your lawyer?

Building Trust Through Communication

As a lawyer, you know that at the heart of the relationship between attorney and client is trust. One of the keys to building that trust is open communication. Your clients must feel comfortable sharing with you and be able to comprehend what you are communicating to them. At the same time, you must be able to understand what your client is telling you.

Every attorney knows that creating this kind of trust can be a challenge with some clients. When you have clients whose primary language is not the same as yours, communication can be difficult, if not impossible. That’s why being a bilingual attorney can benefit your clients, as well as your law practice. Here’s a closer look at the need for bilingual attorneys, how to work as a bilingual attorney, and how being a bilingual attorney can help you build your practice.

The Need for Bilingual Attorneys in North Carolina

Chances are you may be underestimating the need for bilingual attorneys in North Carolina. You may be surprised to learn that according to recent U.S. Census statistics, 88 percent of North Carolina residents speak English at home. This means one in ten, or 12 percent speak another language at home. (The national average is 22 percent of residents speaking a language other than English at home.) The fact that someone speaks a language other than English at home doesn’t mean that person isn’t fluent in English, but obviously many clients are more comfortable conversing in their primary language than one they’re not as familiar with.

North Carolina residents speak a number of languages besides English. The second most spoken language is Spanish. Other languages include French (including Patois and Cajun), German, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, and African languages, as well as many others.

When you speak your client’s primary language, many of the barriers to communication are reduced or eliminated. Your clients are more likely to feel comfortable, and “heard” by you, and more likely to be completely open with you about the facts and circumstances around their case. There’s less chance of misunderstandings on either side, whether you’re discussing the facts of the case, or the law that is involved with the case. You’re better able to zealously represent your clients to the best of your ability, which should be every lawyer’s goal.

Before Practicing Law as a Bilingual Attorney

It’s important to note that simply being able to communicate in another language (like ordering off a menu in a French restaurant) doesn’t mean you should market yourself as a bilingual attorney. To fully represent clients who speak another language, you must be extremely conversant in that language. That includes being able to explain legal and other relevant terms to your clients in words that make sense to them.

If you want to practice law as a bilingual attorney, you need not be a native speaker. You must, however, be fluent in your second language. You also need to be familiar with the idioms and nuances of that language, and you should also know something about the culture around the language you’re speaking to facilitate your communication with your client.  You must also know the terms that are common not only in the law, but in the types of cases you handle. If you handle medical malpractice cases, for example, you must be conversant not only in legal terminology but medical terminology as well.

When speaking with clients, make sure that they fully comprehend what you’re communicating. Use active listening techniques to confirm that you understand what you are being told, too. Even if you’re bilingual, you should expect that your client may want to bring someone else to appointments, such as a child or a friend, who may also want to be there to act as an advocate for that person. The goal is always effective communication.

Finally, every client is different, and every case is different. Even if you are fully bilingual in the language your client speaks, if you feel that despite your abilities and best intentions that you and your client are not able to communicate fully, you should have a competent interpreter to facilitate this process.

*Originally published in the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and reprinted with permission.

About James Young

James Young is a fully bilingual (English-Spanish) mediator and arbitrator who also maintains an active law practice. He is a North Carolina Certified Superior Court Mediator and has experience mediating a range of cases including, but not limited to, guardianships and Medicaid planning, special needs estate planning, breach of contract, defamation, personal injury, workers compensation, and estate matters. James also has extensive arbitration experience in the areas of personal injury, landlord/tenant issues, and contractual disputes.