Houston, Texas

Deposition interpreters in Houston.

Looking for a certified deposition interpreter in Houston? AMS books Texas licensed court interpreters for depositions downtown, in Uptown and the Galleria and at Greenway Plaza, and for remote depositions on Zoom or the reporter's platform. Requests are confirmed within the hour, and same-day and next-day bookings are routine.

Access Multilingual Services (AMS) is an interpreting and translation agency founded in 1999, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas and interpreters on site in all 50 states and remote worldwide.

Request a Quote Call (800) 919-2029

Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes.

How to book a deposition interpreter in Houston

Send the language and the witness's country or region, the date, the start time and time zone, the expected length, and the address or platform.
AMS confirms a court-certified or registered interpreter in writing, usually within the hour, and reconfirms the business day before.
On the day, the court reporter swears in the interpreter on the record, and the interpreter works consecutively through the testimony.

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Get a quote in Houston

A few quick questions. Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes. Prefer to talk? Call (800) 919-2029.

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Houston, Texas

Deposition interpreters at work in Houston

In Texas a deposition is a court proceeding for interpreter purposes. Government Code section 57.001 says so, and the Judicial Branch Certification Commission applies its licensed court interpreter rules to depositions, mediations and court-ordered arbitrations in counties of 50,000 or more, Harris County included. Basic licenses are limited to justice and municipal courts, so county and district court cases call for a Master-licensed interpreter.

Oral depositions follow Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 199, which caps each side at six hours per witness. Interpreted testimony can take close to twice as long, so plan the questions accordingly or agree on more time.

Where depositions are held

Downtown Houston near the courthouses
Uptown and the Galleria
Greenway Plaza

State courts

Harris County Civil Courthouse, 201 Caroline Street
Harris County Criminal Justice Center, 1201 Franklin Street
Harris County Juvenile Justice Center, 1200 Congress Street

Federal court

Southern District of Texas, Houston Division: Bob Casey U.S. Courthouse, 515 Rusk Avenue

In counties of 50,000 or more, Texas courts must use a Licensed Court Interpreter (with a narrow exception for rare languages), licensed by the Judicial Branch Certification Commission at the Master designation (valid in all Texas courts) or the Basic designation (limited to justice and municipal courts that are not courts of record).

How an interpreted deposition runs

Testimony is interpreted consecutively: question, interpretation, answer, interpretation. Plan on the deposition taking close to twice as long as it would in English, and on a short break about every hour. For a full day, or a technical or contentious witness, AMS assigns a team of two interpreters who trade off.

Dialect matters most here. A witness from rural Oaxaca or the Guatemalan highlands may be more at ease in Mixteco or K'iche' than in Spanish, and a word that is ordinary in Mexico can mean something else in the Caribbean. Our schedulers ask where the witness is from before booking.

Send exhibits, a case caption and any technical glossary a day ahead. If opposing counsel brings a check interpreter, agree on that interpreter's role before testimony starts; any disagreement with an interpretation is raised through counsel and goes on the record.

Remote and hybrid depositions work the same way on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Google Meet or the court reporter's own platform. The interpreter can join from anywhere while counsel and the witness sit together.

What we cover

Party and witness depositions
Remote and hybrid depositions
Examinations under oath (EUOs)
Expert and treating physician depositions
Witness preparation sessions
Sight translation of exhibits
Two-interpreter teams for long days

Why AMS

One scheduling desk since 1999

Since 1999 Access Multilingual Services (AMS) has been the interpreting agency law firms, court reporting firms, insurers and clinics call first, in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Arabic, Russian, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Farsi, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Armenian, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian, German, Greek, Somali, Amharic, Tigrinya, Burmese, Nepali, Khmer, Hmong, Lao, Thai, Dari, Pashto, Turkish, Swahili, Hebrew, ASL and Indigenous languages such as Mixteco and K'iche', plus 80+ other languages. Best for depositions, IMEs, court hearings and medical appointments, on site in all 50 states and remote worldwide. Every interpreter is court-certified, court-registered or medically certified (CCHI or NBCMI) for the setting, and matched to the speaker's dialect and region. AMS is a HIPAA-compliant agency and signs HIPAA business associate agreements.

Coverage: On site in all 50 states and remote worldwide
Speed: Requests confirmed within the hour; same-day and next-day bookings are routine
Interpreters: Certified for the setting and matched to the speaker's dialect
Translation: Certified, the same day, most documents within 4 hours
Privacy: HIPAA-compliant agency; signs business associate agreements
Our promise: If an interpreter does not arrive, the booking is not billed

How to book

Call (800) 919-2029 or e-mail scheduling@accessmultilingual.com with the language, date, time, place or platform and expected length. You get a written confirmation with the interpreter's credential.

Rates and terms

Clear half-day and full-day rates, and Net 30 invoices that carry your case name and job number.

Memberships

Held to the profession's own standards.

Access Multilingual Services is a corporate member of the American Translators Association and a member of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. Certifications themselves belong to the individual interpreters we assign, and we verify them before every booking.

Corporate member

American Translators Association (ATA)

View our ATA directory listing

Member

National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators (NAJIT)

View our NAJIT directory listing

Questions, answered

How fast can you send an interpreter in Houston?

Same day in most cases; next day almost always. Requests are confirmed within the hour.

How long does an interpreted deposition take?

Close to twice as long as in English, because every question and answer is interpreted in turn. Book the interpreter for the full time and tell us if it may run late.

Can the interpreter join remotely while everyone else is in the room?

Yes. The interpreter can join by video on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Google Meet or the court reporter's platform, or by phone for short sessions.

Do you book interpreters for court reporting firms?

Yes. Court reporting firms book AMS for their clients' depositions; the invoice carries the firm's own job number, the case name and the witness.

What credential should a court interpreter have in Texas?