Workforce Language Services

An article profiling the Milla family is the first in a series of three pieces about language immersion in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  Curently, the Lake Oswego School District has no Spanish immersion program but the Milla family would like their children to be immersed in the Spanish language.

Steve Milla is of Peruvian descent and conducts most of his business at his law practice in Spanish:

Today 95 percent of his clients are Hispanic. About 50 percent of his work is immigration-related, he said, but he also does personal injury and a little criminal defense “to keep a foot in the courthouse.”

“Then I get people who ask questions like: ‘My rent is late. What do I do?’ Or they have questions about leasing a car,” said Steve, who does almost all of his business in Spanish. He’s had people come in wondering why they don’t own their car after years of payments only to explain to them the difference between leasing and buying.

“I am helping people to make better decisions in the future,” he said.

Both his legal assistant and receptionist are bilingual, and Steve said he wouldn’t hire anyone who is not bilingual – which means he can never hire his wife.

To read the entire profile, click here.