Spanish for Legal Professionals Certificate
Program Fast Facts
- Start date: September 10, 2026
- Thursdays 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. CDT
+4 hours/week of self-paced study - Online
- 9 weeks
- 1,695 Early Registration Rate
(expires 8/27/26)
$1,945 Standard Tuition
Spanish for Legal Professionals
Spanish-Speaking Legal Professionals are in High Demand
Foreign language skills for legal professionals are in high demand, according to a survey by Robert Half Legal. With the nation’s growing Hispanic population, law firms, corporate legal departments and nonprofits have a need for Spanish-speaking attorneys, legal administrators, paralegals and legal advocates. There is particular demand for bilingual legal professionals with experience in employment-based and family-based immigration law as well as translation work for litigation or Latin American business expansion.
Further your career by adding language skills to your resume
The SMU Spanish for Legal Professionals Certificate program is designed for working legal professionals who want to gain confidence communicating in Spanish with clients in a professional legal setting. Through a communicative and hands-on approach, this program will help you build a foundation for continuous development of your Spanish language skills, specifically tailored to the legal field.
Upcoming Start Dates
Winter 2026
Live Online Classes
Thursdays, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. CDT
+4 hours/week of self-paced study
9 weeks
Why Study Legal Spanish at SMU?
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Convenient Schedule
Weekly live online sessions and self-paced study content provide a balance of peer support and individual learning.
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Learn from SMU Faculty
Your instructor is an attorney and faculty member from SMU’s Department of World Languages and Literatures
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Gain Real-World Experience
Practice your skills in one-on-one coaching sessions with native Spanish speakers from various countries.
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Show Off Your Skills
Earn a digital badge to add to your resume and LinkedIn profile to demonstrate your ability to conduct legal processes and business in Spanish without an interpreter.
Student Testimonial
"I really enjoyed having a formal class structure for practicing language in practical ways. My language study can feel aimless, [but] this course gave me clear direction, goals and application examples."
–Jami Jeffcoat, February 2023
Instructor Highlight
Miroslava Detcheva, J.D. is a senior lecturer in Spanish in SMU’s Department of World Languages and Literatures and a licensed immigration attorney focusing on employment and business immigration law. She teaches Spanish language and culture courses at SMU and brings extensive university-level teaching experience to her work in professional education. A graduate of SMU Dedman School of Law, Miroslava draws on her background in linguistics, language instruction and cross-cultural communication to inform her legal practice and teaching. Her instruction helps learners understand how cultural awareness, clear communication and legal knowledge intersect in immigration-related work.
Did you know?
International Business
International business is the primary impetus for firms (or corporate legal departments) to seek attorneys with bilingual capabilities; some firms also include bilingual attorneys as part of a marketing strategy to attract non-English-speaking clients, according to Robert Half.
3%
Though Dallas's population is almost 40% Hispanic, fewer than 3% of partners at leading local law firms are Hispanic according to the Dallas Diversity Task Force.
42%
Of law firms with open positions, 42% identified a need for more bilingual attorneys, according to a survey commissioned by Robert Half Legal; 88% of those firms identified Spanish-speaking attorneys as most-needed.