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Interpreters for Court Hearings

If you are a party or a witness in a court case and do not speak English well, the court itself usually provides the interpreter, at no cost to you. This page says where that comes from, the cases where it does not apply, and the work around a hearing — meetings with your lawyer, preparation, private civil cases — that lawyers and parties do book us for.

In most hearings, the court provides the interpreter — ask the court first

State courts. California's courts tell the public plainly that court interpreters are provided free of charge, that you must request one in advance, and that you are usually not allowed to have a friend or relative interpret in the courtroom. In New York, the trial court rules say that in all civil and criminal cases, when a party or witness cannot meaningfully participate in English, the clerk schedules an interpreter at no expense; the clerk's office must offer interpreting at no expense too. Other states have their own rules; your court's website or language access office will say how to ask. In 2016 the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division described courts that receive federal funds as obliged to provide language services in all proceedings and court programs at no charge (Language Access in State Courts); DOJ now marks that booklet as historical, so rely on your state's own rules.

Federal courts. Under the Court Interpreters Act, 28 U.S.C. 1827(d), in judicial proceedings instituted by the United States — criminal cases and civil cases the government brings, including pretrial and grand jury proceedings — the judge uses a certified interpreter, or an otherwise qualified one when no certified interpreter is reasonably available, for a party or witness who speaks only or primarily another language. The party does not pay: the statute funds it through the federal judiciary, and through the Justice Department for government witnesses. U.S. Courts maintains a national database of contract interpreters for this.

So if you are a defendant, a party in a state case or a witness, you should not be paying us for the courtroom interpreter. Who books us: attorneys, for conversations with their client outside the courtroom and for preparation; parties in federal civil cases between private parties, which fall outside 1827(d) (see below); and parties who are allowed to bring their own where the court permits it. If you are a court looking for contract help, tell us the credential you require; we confirm whether we can staff it before you book.

Where the court's interpreter stops

The courtroom interpreter works for the court, and their job is the proceeding. California's page says court interpreters cannot typically provide services outside of the courtroom, though some self-help centers have interpreters. They keep attorney–client communications confidential and cannot give legal advice. That leaves gaps a party feels at once: the conversation with your lawyer in the hallway before the case is called, the call the week before to go over what will happen, the meeting afterwards to explain the judge's order and what to do next.

Those conversations are privileged and they decide how the hearing goes, so they should not run through a relative or a phone app. They are what a lawyer books a private interpreter for: an interpreter at the law office or on a video call for preparation, or at the courthouse for an hour before and after the hearing — not inside the proceeding, where the court's interpreter works.

Federal civil cases between private parties

The Court Interpreters Act guarantees an interpreter in proceedings the United States brings. In a civil case between private parties, the statute lets the clerk make court interpreting services available on request on a cost-reimbursable basis, and the judge may require the estimated cost to be paid in advance (28 U.S.C. 1827(g)(4)). Separately, FRCP 43(d) lets the court appoint an interpreter of its choosing, set reasonable compensation paid from public funds or by one or more parties, and tax it as costs; 28 U.S.C. 1920(6) lists compensation of interpreters among taxable costs.

In practice that means the lawyer for the party or witness who needs interpreting raises it with the court before the hearing and finds out whether the court will appoint one or expects the party to arrange it. Whoever interprets at trial must be qualified and take an oath under FRE 604; it is for the court to accept them. If the court accepts an interpreter you arrange, tell us the court and any credential it requires before booking.

What a hearing asks of an interpreter

Courtroom interpreting uses two modes at once. A party sitting at counsel table needs to follow everything said — the judge, the lawyers, the witnesses — which is done simultaneously, in a low voice or through equipment. A witness on the stand is interpreted consecutively, question and answer, so the record is clean. The federal statute sets exactly that default: simultaneous for parties, consecutive for witnesses (28 U.S.C. 1827(k)).

Hearings also move between registers in minutes: a judge's formal advisement of rights, a police officer's jargon, a witness's slang. Documents appear without warning — an order, a plea form, a lease — and have to be read aloud in the other language on the spot, which is sight translation. And calendars run late: a 9 a.m. hearing may be called at 11.

Booking the work around a hearing

For a preparation call with the client the week before, a virtual interpreter is simplest: $80 for the first hour, no travel. For the day of the hearing, in person is $110 an hour with a two-hour minimum, billed from the scheduled start. An interpreter meeting you and your client at the courthouse at 8:30 for a 9:00 calendar call, staying until noon to talk through the outcome, is three and a half hours: $385, plus travel at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, confirmed before you book. Because calendars run late, book to the time the court usually finishes, not to the time on the notice.

Send the case type and court, the client's language and country of origin, the hearing time and courtroom, and any documents you will go over with the client — the complaint, a proposed order, a settlement offer. Documents that need to be filed in English are written translation, quoted separately; see court certified translation.

By video, by phone or in person

Virtual interpreting runs on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, or over the telephone. It is quicker to arrange, costs less and carries no travel charge, and it suits appointments, calls and most meetings.

In person is what venues with their own rules tend to expect, and the right choice when documents are being signed or several people are speaking at once. Tell us the platform, or the city and the venue, when you send the request.

Languages

The standard-availability languages are: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Polish, Italian, German, Japanese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Somali and Nepali. Every other language we offer carries the 25–30% limited-availability rate. If a language is not on that list it is not because we cannot do it — it is because the pool of qualified interpreters in the United States is small enough that we will not promise a date without checking.

Each language has its own page on what to watch for — dialects, names, dates, who the speakers usually are: see interpreters by language.

What it costs

Rates are per interpreter, per hour, and billed from the scheduled start time rather than from when everyone actually arrives.

• Virtual — $80 per hour, one-hour minimum. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or telephone.
• In person — $110 per hour, two-hour minimum.
• Limited-availability languages — add 25–30%. Which languages those are is listed below rather than left vague.
• Travel for in-person work — $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location.

How the travel charge works out

Travel is charged at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, which means you can work it out rather than wait for a quote: a 20-mile round trip is $14, a 60-mile round trip is $42, a 150-mile round trip is $105. There is no separate call-out fee on top.

We will not pretend to know in advance where the interpreter will be coming from — that depends on the language, the date and the venue. What we do is confirm the interpreter and the exact travel figure before you book, so it is never a surprise on the invoice. Virtual assignments carry no travel charge at all, which is one reason most of what we do is virtual.

How booking an interpreter works

• You send the request with the form below: the language, the setting, the format, the date and how long it should last.
• We confirm before you commit: the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one. We reply the same business day, and no payment is taken at this stage.
• You confirm, and the interpreter is booked for your date.

What to have ready

The more of this comes in the first message, the fewer exchanges before you have a price:

• The language, the date, the start time and how long it should run.
• Virtual or in person: the platform, or the city and the venue.
• The setting and the subject matter.
• How many people need interpreting for.
• Any credential the venue requires of the interpreter.

Request an interpreter

Tell us the date, the language and the setting and we will come back with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one — before you commit to anything.

Sources

What this page says about the rules was checked against these official sources on October 21, 2026. Rules change; the source is always the authority.

• 28 U.S.C. 1827 — Interpreters in courts of the United States (Court Interpreters Act) (LII)
• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 43(d) — Interpreter (LII)
• Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 604 — Interpreter (LII)
• 28 U.S.C. 1920 — Taxation of costs (LII)
• Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts — Federal Court Interpreters
• Judicial Council of California — California Courts Self-Help Guide: Ask for an interpreter
• New York Unified Court System — 22 NYCRR 217.1, Obligation to appoint interpreter in court proceedings in the trial courts (LII)
• New York Unified Court System — 22 NYCRR 217.2, Provision of interpreting services in clerk's offices (LII)
• U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division — Language Access in State Courts (September 2016; now marked historical by DOJ)

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