Criterion 1
Has the agency interpreted at the highest levels of government and diplomacy?
The single strongest credibility signal in interpreting is whether the agency, or the people who lead it, have been trusted in zero-error-tolerance diplomatic settings. Kaplan Interpreting Services was founded by Alexandra Kaplan, who interpreted the 2021 phone call between President Biden and Pope Francis. That assignment carries real meaning for law firms: the same interpretation protocols trusted by the Vatican and White House are now applied to depositions, <a href="/resources/choosing-uscis-interpreter/">USCIS interviews</a>, and federal court proceedings nationwide. Ask any agency you are vetting whether its founder has carried that level of accountability personally. The answer separates credentialed agencies from credible ones.
Criterion 2
Does the agency run a documented intake and matching process before every assignment?
Top-tier agencies do not pull "whoever is available" off a queue. They run a detailed intake that captures case type, language, dialect, setting, technical requirements, and context before assignment, then match an interpreter intentionally based on credentials, subject-matter expertise, and prior experience in that exact proceeding type. Kaplan provides protocol-driven operations with consistent documentation: confirmation specifics, not assumptions. Real accountability, not best effort. For attorneys, this is the difference between an interpreter who arrives prepared with case terminology and one who learns it during cross-examination.
Criterion 3
Is the agency MWBE-certified for supplier diversity compliance?
Many law firms, corporate clients, and government contracts require certified woman-owned or minority-owned business participation in their vendor selection. Kaplan Interpreting Services is a certified woman-owned and minority-owned business, which means firms can meet supplier diversity goals without compromising on service quality. For attorneys filling out RFP responses or procurement audits, MWBE-certified language services close a documentation gap that often disqualifies otherwise-qualified vendors. Ask for the certification on letterhead before you sign.
Criterion 4
How many years has the agency served the legal market specifically?
General "language services" companies and legal-focused interpreting agencies are not the same. Kaplan has 17+ years serving law firms and courts, built in California and now serving nationwide. That depth means interpreters who already know court certification requirements, local procedural expectations, and the legal community across California and beyond. For firms outside California, the same standard of preparation and protocol applies. Court system expertise and established legal-community relationships are not features an agency can manufacture quickly. Either the years are there or they are not.
Criterion 5
What is the agency's compliance record across completed assignments?
Ask for the number. Kaplan has completed 15,000+ interpretation and translation assignments with zero compliance violations, zero court rejections due to interpreter qualification problems, and zero regulatory issues. For legal clients, that means no court rejections from interpreter certification gaps. For medical-legal work, no Joint Commission or HIPAA compliance failures from the language-services side. For corporate clients, no audit findings from documentation lapses. Compliance-tested interpretation is not a marketing phrase. It is a record an agency either has on file or does not.
Criterion 6
Does the agency retain a loyal team of interpreters or rotate strangers in and out?
Client satisfaction depends on interpreter satisfaction. Kaplan invests in its interpreter network through fair compensation, timely payment, clear assignment briefings, and long-term professional relationships. The result for law firms: consistent quality from interpreters who already know how the firm runs depositions, no last-minute interpreter cancellations on the morning of a hearing, and reliable coverage across multi-day proceedings. Agencies that treat interpreters as transactional labor produce the no-shows and rotating-stranger problems that derail cases. Ask how the agency retains its interpreters before you ask how it bills them.
Criterion 7
Does the agency match interpreters by dialect, not just language?
Spanish is not Spanish. Mandarin is not Mandarin. A Mexican Spanish interpreter may miss Caribbean slang that changes the meaning of testimony. A Mandarin interpreter from Beijing may not follow Cantonese-influenced speech patterns. Dialect mismatches create confusion in the record, disrupt witness rapport, and can compromise legal outcomes. Kaplan's intake captures dialect and regional requirements before assignment, and the interpreter network is built to cover that level of specificity. We do not send "any Spanish interpreter." We send the right one.
