Trial interpreters in New York City.
Looking for a certified trial interpreter in New York City? AMS provides teams of court-registered interpreters for trials in the state courts on Centre Street and Adams Street and in the federal courts at Foley Square and Cadman Plaza, with equipment for simultaneous interpreting. 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.
Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes.
How to book a trial interpreter in New York City
- Send the language, the trial dates, the courtroom, the witness list and a rough schedule.
- AMS confirms a team of court-certified or registered interpreters in writing, usually within the hour, and the same team stays with the trial.
- Share exhibits, deposition transcripts and the case vocabulary a few days ahead so the team can prepare.
Get a quote in New York City
A few quick questions. Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes. Prefer to talk? Call (800) 919-2029.
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Trial interpreters at work in New York City
Federal trials in the Southern District sit at the Thurgood Marshall and Daniel Patrick Moynihan courthouses on Foley Square, and in the Eastern District at 225 Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn. State trials run at 60 and 100 Centre Street in Manhattan and at 360 Adams and 320 Jay Street in Brooklyn. When the court supplies its own interpreter for the proceedings, parties still book AMS for witness preparation and for their own interpreter at counsel table.
State courts
- New York County Supreme Court, Civil Term, 60 Centre Street
- Manhattan Supreme Court, Criminal Term, and Criminal Court, 100 Centre Street
- Civil Court of the City of New York and Housing Court, 111 Centre Street
- New York County Family Court, 60 Lafayette Street
- Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn
- Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, 320 Jay Street, Brooklyn
Federal court
- Southern District of New York: Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street
- Eastern District of New York: Theodore Roosevelt U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn
New York State courts run court interpreting through the Unified Court System's Office of Language Access. New York does not use certified or licensed tiers: freelance interpreters who pass the court system's written exam and, in the languages it tests, its oral exam go on the statewide registry of per diem court interpreters kept by the Office of Language Access, and staff interpreters hold the civil service title Court Interpreter. For American Sign Language the courts accept the RID credential.
Interpreting a trial
Trials are interpreted by teams. Two interpreters trade off about every 30 minutes, because accuracy drops when one interpreter works alone for hours, and court best practice calls for a team for anything longer than about two hours.
Witness testimony is interpreted consecutively, so the jury hears each answer in English. Everything else in the courtroom, from openings to sidebars the party is allowed to hear, is interpreted simultaneously to the party through wireless headsets.
Preparation decides quality. A team that has read the deposition transcripts, the expert reports and the exhibit list arrives knowing the names, places and technical terms the case turns on.
What we cover
- Jury and bench trials
- Witness testimony
- Simultaneous interpreting for parties
- Interpreting equipment (headsets)
- Trial preparation sessions
- Arbitration hearings run like trials
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
Rates and terms
Clear half-day and full-day rates, and Net 30 invoices that carry your case name and job number.
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.
Member
National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators (NAJIT)
View our NAJIT directory listingQuestions, answered
How fast can you send an interpreter in New York City?
Same day in most cases; next day almost always. Requests are confirmed within the hour.
Why does a trial need two interpreters?
Accuracy falls after about half an hour of continuous interpreting. Two interpreters trade off so the work stays accurate all day.
Do you provide headsets?
Yes. AMS supplies wireless interpreting equipment on request so a party can follow the proceedings simultaneously.
Can we keep the same interpreters for the whole trial?
Yes. The same team is booked for every day of the trial whenever the schedule allows.
What credential should a court interpreter have in New York?
New York State courts run court interpreting through the Unified Court System's Office of Language Access. New York does not use certified or licensed tiers: freelance interpreters who pass the court system's written exam and, in the languages it tests, its oral exam go on the statewide registry of per diem court interpreters kept by the Office of Language Access, and staff interpreters hold the civil service title Court Interpreter. For American Sign Language the courts accept the RID credential.
Can the interpreter join remotely?
Yes, on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Google Meet, the court reporter's platform or by phone, where the court or venue allows it.
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Trial interpreting
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Book a trial interpreter in New York City
Requests are confirmed within the hour, and same-day and next-day bookings are routine.
Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes.