How to Prepare for a Deposition with an Interpreter

Conducting a deposition with an interpreter introduces variables that a standard deposition does not have. Knowing how to prepare for a deposition with an interpreter, and how to prepare your client or witness, is one of the more underrated skills in litigation practice. A well-run interpreted deposition produces a clean, defensible record. A poorly prepared one produces transcript problems, witness credibility issues, and procedural headaches that follow the case for months. This step-by-step guide covers what attorneys and their staff need to do before, during, and after an interpreted deposition to protect the record and their client.

Step 1: Book a Certified Interpreter With Enough Lead Time

Start here, because everything else depends on it. The interpreter needs to be booked before you can plan anything else, and the interpreter you book should be a certified professional with documented experience in legal interpreting services, not a bilingual acquaintance, a staff member, or the first name that surfaces from a Google search.

For common languages like Spanish, one week of lead time is generally workable. For less common languages, build in two weeks or more. Rare languages may require more. When you contact your interpretation services provider, give them the language, the approximate duration, the subject matter of the case, and the location. A quality agency will match the interpreter to the assignment based on those specifics, not just availability.

Step 2: Send the Interpreter Relevant Background Materials

A prepared deposition interpreter is a better deposition interpreter. Before the deposition, send your interpreter whatever materials will help them prepare: a case overview, a glossary of technical terms if the subject matter is specialized (medical, construction, financial, pharmaceutical), names of the parties and key witnesses, and any documents that may be marked as exhibits.

This is standard practice for certified interpreters who take their work seriously, and a good agency will facilitate it. The interpreter’s job is to render meaning accurately in real time, the more context they have going in, the less time gets spent on clarifications mid-record. This is especially important in technical cases where terminology in one language may not have a direct equivalent in the other.

Step 3: Prepare Your Client or Witness for the Interpreted Format

Witnesses who have never participated in a deposition with an interpreter often do not know what to expect, and that uncertainty shows up in the record. Before the deposition, walk your client through how the process works:

Speak in short segments. The interpreter cannot hold 90 seconds of testimony in memory and render it accurately. Witnesses should pause after every two or three sentences, or even every sentence in technical exchanges, to allow the interpreter to work. This is the single most common source of record problems in interpreted depositions, and it is entirely preventable with a five-minute prep conversation.

Direct answers to the questioner, not the interpreter. Witnesses sometimes begin looking at and speaking to the interpreter rather than the attorney asking the question. Remind them that the interpreter is a conduit, not a participant. Eye contact and directed answers should go to the questioner.

Wait for the full interpretation before responding. Bilingual witnesses sometimes begin answering in English before the interpreter has finished rendering the question. This creates a record inconsistency and undermines the value of having a deposition interpreter present at all.

Step 4: Set Up the Room for In Person Interpretation

In person interpretation at a deposition requires some thought about physical setup that a standard deposition does not. The interpreter needs to be seated where they can hear the witness and the questioning attorney clearly, typically adjacent to the witness, not across the table. If you are conducting consecutive interpretation (the standard mode for depositions), the interpreter and witness need to be close enough to speak at a normal conversational volume without the interpreter having to project.

If the deposition will run more than two hours, which triggers standard industry practice of using two interpreters for relief, confirm in advance how the transition between interpreters will be handled and note it on the record when it occurs. The court reporter should capture interpreter changes, just as they would capture an attorney change.

Step 5: Establish the Record at the Outset

At the beginning of the deposition, the interpreter should be introduced on the record and their qualifications stated. Ask the interpreter to confirm their name, their language pair, and their credential. Some attorneys also ask the interpreter to state that they will interpret accurately and completely to the best of their ability, an informal oath that reinforces the professional standard in place.

If opposing counsel objects to the interpreter’s qualifications at any point, having the credential on the record at the outset gives you a clean foundation to work from. With certified interpreters from a reputable legal interpreting services provider, this is rarely an issue, but establishing it properly takes thirty seconds and protects the record if it ever becomes one.

Step 6: Handle Interpretation Disputes on the Record, Calmly

Disputes over a specific rendering do arise, even with excellent interpreters. When they do, the right approach is to address them on the record without turning them into a credibility fight. Ask the interpreter to provide an alternative rendering. Note both versions in the record. Move on. A professional interpreter will handle this without defensiveness, it is part of the job, and any certified interpreter with real deposition experience has been through it before.

Do not allow disputes to derail the deposition or be used tactically to undermine the interpreter’s authority. If a genuine translation question arises that cannot be resolved in the moment, note it on the record and address it post-deposition through a certified translation of the relevant passage.

The Interpreter Is Part of Your Team for the Day

Attorneys who treat the deposition interpreter as a logistical afterthought tend to get logistical results. Attorneys who treat certified interpreters as professionals: briefing them in advance, preparing their witnesses, and setting up the proceeding for accuracy, consistently get cleaner records and more productive depositions.

At Kaplan Interpreting Services, we work with attorneys before the day of the deposition to make sure the interpreter is prepared, the witness is briefed on the format, and the proceeding is set up to run smoothly. That preparation is part of what we provide, not an add-on.

If you have an interpreted deposition coming up, contact us with the details and we will match you with a certified interpreter who is ready to work.

Kaplan Interpreting Services is a WBE/MBE-certified interpretation and translation agency based in Southern California, serving Am Law 100 firms, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies since 2007.