by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid and its limited staff of advocacy attorneys manages to tackle a variety of issues for those who can’t afford legal help. Whether it’s foreclosure, an unfair firing or predatory lending, there’s a JALA staffer that can handle the case.
Until recently, however, deaf clients or those with a hearing impairment were a real challenge. Attorney Sharon Caserta has joined JALA, which recently started its Deaf & Hearing Legal Advocacy Program, which is designed to assist deaf and hard of hearing people with a wide range of civil legal needs from consumer disputes to child custody issues. Caserta is fluent in American Sign Language and will be able to handle any hearing impairment issues that may arise.
JALA Executive Director Michael Figgins said the program is yet another avenue through which JALA can serve the community.
“We are thrilled to continue our strong tradition of legal advocacy for disadvantaged groups including this very underserved population,” said Figgins. “So many deaf people in our community don’t pursue justice because access to the legal system is too difficult; we are fortunate to have Sharon Caserta, one of the nation’s preeminent experts in the field heading this program that will change that.”
Caserta introduced herself and the program to the local community during Tuesday’s Jacksonville Bar Association meeting and may have caught some off guard with her statistics regarding the number of people in the state with hearing problems and the inability to provide them with quality legal advice.
“There are 1.8 million people with some sort of hearing impairment in Florida,” said Caserta, who is only one of 160 interpreters who is certified to work in a legal setting. She holds the Specialist Legal Certificate from the National Registry of Interpreters for Deaf and graduated cum laude from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2005. “That is second only to California. They have nowhere to go with their legal needs.”
Caserta explained the differences between those who are deaf and those who have a hearing impairment. In fact, she said, most deaf people don’t speak English — they speak ASL, a totally different language that differs from country to country, involves only hand signals and cannot be written. Caserta said a written version of the Miranda Rights are given to deaf people that are arrested, but often the police officers don’t realize the person they have in custody can’t read the card.
Interpreters are often used in court or in depositions, but Caserta warned the level of certification of interpreters can become an issue. Those levels range from 60 percent to 90 percent, meaning most interpreters don’t catch 10 percent to 40 percent of what a deaf or hearing impaired person is trying to convey.
“I recommend you voir dire any interpreter you use,” she said. “Just because they appear in your office or in court, they are not necessarily qualified.”
Other news and notes from the meeting.
• Several lawyers were voted in as new members of the Jacksonville Bar Association. The are: Fraz Ahmed, David Applegate, Trevor Arnold, Jill Bechtold, Imani Boykin, C. Matthew Brannen, Andrea Hart Busey, Jeffrey Canup, Andrew Chiang, Christian Cox, Timothy Darby, William Dobbins, Brody Eldridge, Lenny Feigel, Marilyn Gantt, Megan Harper, William Hilton III, Jamie Ibrahim, Leslie Scott Jean-Bart, Roy Phillip Jetter, Candyce King, Caroline Klancke, William Keith Knight, Brian Krulick, Andrew Landon, Stella Lane, Misty Lavender, Michael Lufkin, John Maroney, Charles Mills III, Shea Michael Moser, Tara Newberry, Luis Olmeda Jr., Martha Pardo, F. Scott Pauzar III, Erin Moorman Pooley, Kristopher Robinson, Jonathan Sacks, Hon. Elizabeth Senterfitt, Marcellina Spigner, John Stemen , Sarah Stoddard-Toppi, F. Joseph Ullo Jr., Anthony Varrone, Christina West, David Williams, Gildert Wright Jr. and Shands Wulbern.
• The Vintage Lawyers will meet Dec. 21 at noon at the Piccadilly at Regency.
• FCSL professor Laura Boeckman talked about one of her programs at the law school. She teaches three clinics with eight students each and assigns them cases she gets from JALA, most of which are wrongful foreclosures. “It’s a good feeling keeping individuals and families in their homes and out of illegal debt,” she said. “I love my work, but I actually wish it would go away. Unfortunately, it’s growing exponentially.”