16.1599, Review: Translation/Forensic Ling: Buenker (2005)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-16-1599. Wed May 18 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.1599, Review: Translation/Forensic Ling: Buenker (2005)

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1)
Date: 16-May-2005
From: José Varela-Ibarra < drvarela at yahoo.com >
Subject: The Interpreter's Guide to the Vehicular Accident Lawsuit 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 22:08:06
From: José Varela-Ibarra < drvarela at yahoo.com >
Subject: The Interpreter's Guide to the Vehicular Accident Lawsuit 
 

AUTHOR: Buenker, Josef
TITLE: The Interpreter's Guide to the Vehicular Accident Lawsuit
SERIES: Professional Interpreting in the Real World
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2005
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-32.html


Dr. José L. Varela-Ibarra, Department of Foreign Languages and Humanities, 
Eastern Kentucky University

DESCRIPTION

Josef Buenker, admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Texas, in 
the United States District Courts, and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, 
concentrates in the area of civil trial law, with an emphasis on personal 
injury litigation, which includes vehicular accident cases.  Having acted 
as lead counsel in hundreds of lawsuits and having represented clients in 
pre-litigation settlement efforts, mediations, and arbitrations, Mr. 
Buenker is highly qualified to write on the content and context of what is 
a very common interpreting assignment for judiciary interpreters and 
translators, the vehicular accident lawsuit.

Mr. Buenker's book follows the litigation process involving vehicular 
accidents from the event itself through the trial.  Vehicular accidents 
discussed in the book include intersectional collisions, accidents 
involving drunk drivers, allegedly defective vehicles, and even 
livestock.  The most commonly encountered types of witnesses, as well as 
both the plaintiff's and the defendant's perspectives and goals with 
regard to the various witnesses are examined.

Helping the interpreter understand the goals of the parties in a 
deposition and the context of the deposition and questions is one of the 
primary objectives of this book.  Practical examples to assist the 
interpreter in understanding the types of documentation and questioning 
that may be encountered during the course of a vehicular accident lawsuit 
round up Mr. Buenker's book.

The volume is divided into six chapters:  1) An Introduction to the 
Vehicular Accident Lawsuit, 2) Types of Vehicular Accident Lawsuits, 3) 
Participation of the Interpreter in Vehicular Accident Lawsuits, 4) 
Recurring Witnesses and Potential Testimony, 5) Non-Recurring Witnesses, 
and 6) Expert Witnesses. Approximately one third of the book consists of 
twelve Appendices:  1) Plaintiff's Original Petition, 2) Defendant's 
Original Answer, 3) Defendant Interrogatories to Plaintiff, 4) Deposition 
Notice and Request for Production, 5) Medical Authorization, 6) Employment 
and Payroll Record Authorization, 7) Social Security Record Authorization, 
8) Minor Settlement Hearing Transcript, 9) Minor Structured Settlement 
Agreement, 10) Judgment Approving Structured Settlement, 11) Judge's 
Instruction to Jury, and 12) Jury Charge.

The book begins with an acknowledgement to the assistance rendered to the 
author by Diane Teichman, the series editor, a practicing judiciary 
interpreter herself.  A brief preface follows, in which the author 
outlines the book's contents and his intention: to be of service to the 
working interpreting.

Chapter 1:  An Introduction to the Vehicular Accident Lawsuit
Following a very brief overview of court proceedings in the United States, 
the author describes  the two main categories of civil suits:  violations 
of contractual agreements and lawsuits involving torts, an injury to a 
party due to the breach of some legal duty one person has to another. Both 
categories can involve a vehicular accident.

The progression of a vehicular accident lawsuit -- from the initial client 
meeting and investigation to the complaint, defendant's pleadings, 
counterclaims, third parties, discovery, interrogatories, depositions, and 
finally mediation and settlement or trial and appeal -- is then examined.  
At each stage of the proceedings, terms are defined for the reader.

Chapter 2: Types of Vehicular Accident Lawsuits
After a discussion of damages and how the recovery of some monetary 
compensation is part of most vehicular accident lawsuits, this chapter 
describes auto-auto accidents, intersectional, rear-end and head-on 
collisions, construction or alcohol related collisions, auto-pedestrian, 
auto-truck, and livestock accidents, and finishes describing uninsured 
motorists claims, product liability, and vehicle manufacturing defects. 
The author goes beyond simple descriptions.  He points out the 
ramifications of each type of accident to the interpreter's job.

Chapter 3: Participation of the Interpreter in Vehicular Accident Lawsuits
This chapter brings the interpreter to each of the stages of the vehicular 
accident lawsuit, from the initial client meeting to the trial.  At each 
stage the interpreter is not only advised of his function, but also warned 
about potential pitfalls and ethical lapses.  The interpreter, for 
example, is directed not to answer any questions posed to him by a witness 
or another party even if thinking he or she knows the answer.  Instead, 
the interpreter is to refer the witness or party to the attorney.  If the 
interpreter is assigned to go to the accident scene, he or she may hear 
very emotionally charged language.  In such cases, the interpreter is 
advised not to interrupt the speaker for that may cause the person to lose 
track of what he or she was saying and to perhaps forget to relay 
important information.  In depositions, even where the interpreter sits 
with respect to the witness and the court reporter is important.  The 
author advises the interpreter to sit between the two because the court 
reporter will be listening to the interpreter not the witness.

Chapter 4:  Recurring Witnesses and Potential Testimony
While the previous chapter familiarized the interpreter with the various 
stages of the vehicular accident lawsuit, this chapter focuses on the 
various witnesses that are likely to appear in the lawsuit, their 
positions and objectives, and the objectives and direction that the 
plaintiff and the defendant may wish the testimony to take.  This gives 
the interpreter and idea of the terminology and the context of the 
depositions to be interpreted.  From police officers to medical doctors to 
bar owners may be called to testify.  The interpreter needs to be prepared 
to handle the various registers and terminologies.

Chapter 5:  Non-Recurring Witnesses
This chapter continues the process of familiarizing the interpreter with 
possible witnesses.  Here the emphasis is on witnesses that are unique to 
specific vehicular accident lawsuits.  For example, in an accident 
involving livestock, a very important witness is the sheriff, deputy, or 
other law enforcement agent responsible for regulating livestock and 
traffic laws and for enforcing laws or statutes regarding the fencing in 
of livestock.

Chapter 6:  Expert Witnesses
The author explains that expert testimony is usually interpreted only in a 
full-trial scenario.  The difficulties for the interpreter include the 
technical nature of the expert's testimony and the speed of his delivery.  
Cross-examinations are usually slower and more deliberate, but more 
confrontational.  Medical experts are the most common in vehicular 
accident lawsuits, but others may be called to the stand: accident 
reconstructionist, vocational/economic expert, traffic signal engineers, a 
trucking industry engineer, and others.

Appendices
The twelve documents in the appendices section of the book are very 
valuable as training tools and further sources of terminology for the 
interpreter.  Appendix 3, for example, "Defendant Interrogatories to 
Plaintiff," includes 27 typical questions.  (No. 4: Have you ever been 
arrested for, indicted for, plead guilty to, or been found guilty of a 
felony or a misdemeanor?  If so, state when and where and the nature of 
the charge.)  Interpreters need to prepare for these questions and their 
possible answers.

EVALUATION

Josef Buenker has made a valuable contribution to the literature on the 
training and education of translators and interpreters, specifically 
judiciary interpreters.  The book is very thorough in explaining to the 
interpreter the entire vehicular accident lawsuit process and the most 
common categories of witnesses that are encountered in such litigation. 
The documents included for the interpreter's benefit are relevant and well-
chosen.

Written primarily for interpreters, this book could benefit from a future 
expansion -- a glossary, a bibliography, a resources list, more documents -
- that would make it ideal for interpreter trainers and professors in 
interpreting studies courses. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

José L. Varela-Ibarra has a Ph.D. in Spanish from The University of Texas 
at Austin and is a U.S. Courts Certified Interpreter and Translator.  He 
scores interpreting exams for the National Association of Judiciary 
Interpreters and Translators.  He has published articles and handbooks on 
Translation Studies, organized several international conferences on the 
education and training of translators and interpreters, edited newsletters 
on terminology and the business of translation, presented papers and 
conducted workshops nationally and internationally. He has taught 
translation and interpreting in Brazil, Mexico, and at San Diego State 
University, Florida International University, the University of the West 
Indies, the University of Texas at Brownsville, and at Eastern Kentucky 
University, where he is currently Chair of the Languages and Humanities 
Department.





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