Jump to main content

Mock Legal Experiences

The Mock Legal Experiences provided supervised, low-risk mock legal interpreting experiences and observation opportunities to practitioners who completed the Legal Interpreter Training program. The Mock Legal Experiences sought to bring real-world scenarios to participants. The work of an ASL/English interpreter in any setting is complicated, demanding, and requires language fluency and specialized skills. Working in the legal specialty requires additional knowledge of legal discourse, principles, and protocol. Interpreters learning to work in legal settings have very few opportunities to observe interpreted interactions due to the low incidence and geographic spread of deaf individuals who are interacting with the legal system. The curriculum provided a five-week training which included interpreting experience and observation opportunities to increase practical experience in a low-risk setting, to reflect upon interpreting performances, and build confidence in applying the skills, knowledge, and attributes associated with working in court settings.

The mock legal scenarios had two possible participant roles, observer or interpreter.  Both roles were of great importance to this practicum experience. Both observers and interpreters

  1. prepared for their assigned scenario(s)
  2. engaged in facilitated, collegial discussions about the interpreting work
  3. reflected upon their learning experience.

Program Information

  • Program Results

    The Induction program served to increase the quality and quantity of practitioners specializing in legal interpreting.

    Pie chart for overall impact of the Bridge to Practice Program

    Of the 40 participants, 33 participants (82.5%) were Project CLIMB's target audience of Deaf, Coda, & POC.

    Pie chart showing break down of hearing, Coda, & Deaf participants in the Mock Legal Experience

    Of the 40 participants, 20 participants (50%) were Project CLIMB's target audience of Deaf & Coda.

    Pie chart showing break down of white & BIPOC participants in the Mock Legal Experience

    Of the 40 participants, 31 participants (41.3%) were Project CLIMB's target audience of BIPOC.

    The overall design was rooted in the same social constructivist framework as the Legal Interpreter Training and Mentor Training, valuing facilitated peer-based dialogue and scaffolding towards learning.  The interspersed sessions, over the 5-week period, allowed for paced skill development and knowledge building via hands-on application from session to session.

  • Program Map

    The Program Map for the Mock Legal Experiences served as an “at-a-glance” reference guide that participants used to see the overall flow for program's modules.

  • Time Commitment

    The curriculum totaled 25 hours and took practitioners an average of 2-4 hours per mock scenario over the five-week training.

Program Cohort

Project CLIMB recognizes the hard work and dedication of the practitioners who have successfully completed* the Induction program.To search for qualified interpreters, visit the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) website.

*Successful completion of this training does not provide endorsement of the participant's language fluency or skills as an interpreter.

Participants (Fall 2021)

by first name; NOTE: 1st column are first names starting with A-C, 2nd column is D-J, 3rd column is L-R, and 4th column is S-Z.

  • Alicia McClurkan
  • Alyssa Kurth
  • Amy Dawson
  • Antonio Goodwin
  • Audrey Ramirez-Loudenback
  • Ben Hall
  • Brenda Lee
  • Bryan Davis
  • Carie Barrett
  • Catherine Eller
  • Cheryl Thomas
  • Chrystal Honorable
  • Churyl Zeviar
  • Donna Walker
  • Eloisa Williams
  • Emily Arriaga
  • Ernest Willman
  • Gloria Vargas
  • Heather Schmerman
  • Heidi Woelbling
  • Jennifer furlano
  • Jennifer Buechner
  • Joanne Smith-Malinka
  • Joe Toledo
  • John Izaguirre
  • Leticia Moran
  • Maurita Villarreal
  • Michael Barrios
  • Mona Mehrpour
  • Naomi Sheneman
  • Pamela Taylor
  • Pauline Ballentine
  • Phyllis Dora Rifkin
  • Rossio Zavala Perez
  • Samantha-Jo Oie
  • Scottie Allen
  • Sharon Lake 
  • Susan Elizabeth Rangel
  • Tara Roth
  • Tiffany Green
  • Tracy Cummins
  • Ty Blake-Holden
  • Veronica Lepore
  • Walter Mathews
  • Zina Egbe

Grant Recognition

The contents of the Project CLIMB website was developed under a grant (#H160D160001) from the Department of Education. The contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education. Do not assume endorsement by the Federal government.

As of December 31, 2021, this grant project is no longer active or soliciting applications.
This website will remain available as a resource.

NCRTM logo

The National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials (NCRTM) website is a central portal for accessing archived and new rehabilitation training resources offering search capabilities, a quality rating system, as well as enhanced usability and accessibility.