What if my LOR writer cannot write in English? Forum

[Tatiana0000]

Hi folks.
Simply put, one of my LOR writers doesn't speak English and cannot write in English at all. How can I deal with this situation? Should I ask the professor to ask a third person to translate it and submit both the original letter and the translated one?
Thank you so much.

[kellyjohnson]

I would see if the letter writer would be willing to work with you to put it together. Either they write something, send it to you, and you translate what he/she wrote, then he/she submits it (either online or by mail); or you just write your own letter and have him/her "okay" it (this is a pretty common arrangement, and probably preferred, especially assuming that your LOR writer may also not be aware of what should go into a letter for an American law school). There is no rule that you are not allowed to read (or even write) your own letter, as long as the official recommendor okays it at the end.

[QContinuum]

I would see if the letter writer would be willing to work with you to put it together. Either they write something, send it to you, and you translate what he/she wrote, then he/she submits it (either online or by mail); or you just write your own letter and have him/her "okay" it (this is a pretty common arrangement, and probably preferred, especially assuming that your LOR writer may also not be aware of what should go into a letter for an American law school). There is no rule that you are not allowed to read (or even write) your own letter, as long as the official recommendor okays it at the end.

OP says their recommender "doesn't speak English" at all. I frankly think it'd be an ethical issue for OP to write their own letter in English and have the recommender "okay" it, since the recommender wouldn't even be able to understand (let alone provide informed consent to) OP's letter. Even if it's unlikely as a practical matter that this would be flagged down the road, I don't think it's worth the risk. Submitting a "fraudulent" LOR to get into law school, if caught, could very well prevent OP from being admitted to the bar.

IIRC, law schools adcoms also prefer for applicants to waive their legal right to inspect submitted LORs, on the grounds that this encourages recommenders to be candid. Thus, it could potentially be considered misleading/problematic if OP were to check that box, when in fact OP themselves had reviewed & okayed the LOR prior to submission.

I think to be safe, have the recommender write the LOR in their native language; have the recommender send the LOR to a third-party translator (i.e., not OP) to translate it into English; have the recommender (or the third-party translator) upload the English version to LSAC. OP can identify and pay for the translator, so it needn't be a burden on the recommender.