Michael J. Mulé

Deputy Director, Office for Civil Rights

Washington, District of Columbia, United States Contact Info
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About

Experienced civil rights attorney, enforcing Title VI and language access requirements. Language access expert. Effective trainer. Led the redesign of LEP.gov. The views and opinions provided herein are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Justice or of the United States.

Contributions

Activity

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Experience

  • U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Graphic

    Deputy Director, Office for Civil Rights

    U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP)

    - Present 11 months

    District of Columbia, United States

    🔷Supervises the work of GS-15 civil rights attorneys.
    🔷Briefs the OCR Director, the OJP Assistant Attorney General, and DOJ senior management on OCR performance and cases.
    🔷Serves as an OCR primary point of contact for complainants and external agencies and participates in workgroup, meetings, or public forums related to complaint investigations or strategic initiatives.
    🔷Delivers civil rights law briefings and presentations at conferences, seminars and other outreach programs…

    🔷Supervises the work of GS-15 civil rights attorneys.
    🔷Briefs the OCR Director, the OJP Assistant Attorney General, and DOJ senior management on OCR performance and cases.
    🔷Serves as an OCR primary point of contact for complainants and external agencies and participates in workgroup, meetings, or public forums related to complaint investigations or strategic initiatives.
    🔷Delivers civil rights law briefings and presentations at conferences, seminars and other outreach programs for DOJ.

  • U.S. Department of Justice Graphic

    Attorney-Advisor, Civil Rights Division

    U.S. Department of Justice

    - 13 years 1 month

    🔶Led Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) investigation and review teams and successfully negotiated the resolution of many civil rights matters, including;
    - A Title VI review of the South Dakota court system that concluded with an October 2021 resolution letter that will improve access for all limited English proficient (LEP) court users.
    - An investigation of the courts in Fort Bend County, Texas that resulted in the first Civil Rights Division Title VI resolution…

    🔶Led Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) investigation and review teams and successfully negotiated the resolution of many civil rights matters, including;
    - A Title VI review of the South Dakota court system that concluded with an October 2021 resolution letter that will improve access for all limited English proficient (LEP) court users.
    - An investigation of the courts in Fort Bend County, Texas that resulted in the first Civil Rights Division Title VI resolution agreement with monetary damages for complainants in June 2021.
    - A joint investigation of a Washington State labor agency with the U.S. Department of Labor that was resolved with an October 2015 agreement to improve access to services for injured LEP workers.
    🔶Served as Title VI legal advisor and trainer for civil rights staff and general counsel at the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Labor, Transportation (DOT), Treasury, and Veterans Affairs.
    🔶Coordinated and led initiatives to enforce Environmental Justice (EJ), Title VI, and language access requirements.
    🔶Created and presented 75 civil rights trainings for federal agencies, covered entities, and advocates that addressed Title VI, language access, and related topics.
    🔶Developed the Language Access Planning and Technical Assistance Tool for Courts in February 2014.
    🔶Wrote legal memoranda that convinced DOJ leadership to file the first DOJ statement of interest (SOI) in a private Title VI lawsuit in November 2013, co-authored that SOI which addressed the language access obligations of the New York City Police Department.
    🔶Administered the website www.lep.gov and led the team that redesigned the entire website in March 2020.

  • Empire Justice Center

    Empire Justice Center

    5 years

    • Empire Justice Center Graphic

      Staff Attorney / Language Access, ADA and Section 504

      Empire Justice Center

      - 3 years

      Rochester, New York

      -Represented clients with disabilities in federal lawsuits and complaints filed against a variety of entities.
      -Provided more than 20 state and national Title VI language access trainings for attorneys and nonprofits.
      -Worked with state and local agencies to improve access to services for limited English proficient clients.

    • Empire Justice Center Graphic

      Hanna S. Cohn Equal Justice Fellow

      Empire Justice Center

      - 2 years

      Rochester, New York Area

Education

Volunteer Experience

Publications

  • 10 Tips to Create, Maintain, and Present Non-English Digital Content

    The 10 questions below were curated from attendees of the webinar, Language Connections: Tips to Create, Maintain, and Present Non-English Digital Content. This event was hosted by the Multilingual Community of Practice and Digital.gov on February 24, 2021. Questions were moderated by the Multilingual Community co-lead, Laura Godfrey, of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), and answered by Michael Mulé, Attorney Advisor, of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

    See publication
  • Ensuring Effective Communication with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals

    Government, Law and Policy Journal, New York State Bar Association

    This article will explain the general difference between deaf and hard of hearing individuals, the effective communication requirements of government entities, the types of interpreters that must be used, the undue burden defense that may be available to government entities, the legal consequences when government entities do not comply with these requirements, and the steps that government entities can take to ensure that communication with deaf and hard of hearing individuals is effective.

    See publication
  • How Effective Is Machine Translation of Legal Information?

    Clearinghouse Review, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

    Online services offer instantaneous translation of text or website content. Before using translation software or “machine-translation” tools to assist limited-English-proficient (LEP) clients obtain meaningful access to the information, advocates should consider several factors. Here we describe the role of a human translator, discuss when and how to use machine translation in conjunction with human translation, and review available machine-translation services.

    Other authors
    See publication
  • Language Access 101: The Rights of Limited-English-Proficient Individuals

    Clearinghouse Review, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

    Legal aid attorneys must uphold the rights of their limited-English-proficient (LEP) clients and enforce the protections of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Legal aid offices must ensure that LEP clients receive language-assistance services in-house and from all agencies and programs that receive federal assistance.

    See publication
  • Meaningful Web Access for LEP Clients: Examples from the Net

    National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Cornerstone

    Translating vital documents and information on your website is essential to ensuring limited English proficient (LEP) clients have access to our legal system. This article discusses the obligation to translate website content and highlights emerging and distinctive ways that programs are using Web technology to help ensure essential resources and information are accessible to LEP clients.

    Other authors
    See publication
  • Language Access: The Rights of Limited English Proficient (LEP) Individuals in New York State

    Empire Justice Center

    This 124-page guide describes the federal and New York State protections for limited English proficient
    (LEP) individuals in a variety of public and social programs and services.

    See publication
  • Federal Language Access Guide: The Rights of Limited English Proficient (LEP) Individuals in the United States

    Empire Justice Center

    The 74-page federal guide describes the protections for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the language service obligations of federally funded programs and services.

    See publication
  • Language Access Advocacy: Language Access Advocacy in Public Benefits and Health Care

    Management Information Exchange

    Improved access to a wide variety of services “ranging from the delivery of healthcare and access to food stamps… can substantially improve the health and quality of life of many LEP individuals and their families.” Language-assistance services increase the efficiency of distribution of government services to LEP individuals and measurably increase the effectiveness of public benefit and health programs.

    Other authors
    See publication
  • Language Tech: Using Technology to Ensure Effective Communication with Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Sensory Impaired (SI) Clients

    Management Information Exchange

    Internet resources and other law technology services can aid the implementation of a language access policy for legal services offices. These resources can allow offices to assess language communities, provide language assistance services, track client communication needs, and provide documents in alternative formats for limited English proficient (LEP) and sensory impaired (SI) clients.

    Other authors
    See publication

Projects

  • Guidance To Improve Access To Multilingual Content

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    “[A] group of members from the Multilingual Community conducted research, discussed their findings, and drafted solutions based on the number of languages and content being offered.
    Thank you to the six community members representing four agencies who led this effort!
    Fedora Braverman—National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health
    Mikelyn Meyers—U.S. Census Bureau
    Yazmin Garcia Trejo—U.S. Census Bureau
    Mike Mulé—U.S. Department of Justice
    Laura Godfrey—U.S…

    “[A] group of members from the Multilingual Community conducted research, discussed their findings, and drafted solutions based on the number of languages and content being offered.
    Thank you to the six community members representing four agencies who led this effort!
    Fedora Braverman—National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health
    Mikelyn Meyers—U.S. Census Bureau
    Yazmin Garcia Trejo—U.S. Census Bureau
    Mike Mulé—U.S. Department of Justice
    Laura Godfrey—U.S. General Services Administration
    Maria Marrero—U.S. General Services Administration”

    See project
  • Redesign of LEP.gov

    -

    The Interagency Working Group on Limited English Proficiency (LEP) created LEP.gov in 2002. LEP.gov is maintained by the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section (FCS) in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

    See project
  • Language Access Planning and Technical Assistance Tool for Courts

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    This language access planning and technical assistance tool for courts was created by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Federal Coordination and Compliance Section (DOJ), to assist courts and court systems as they develop comprehensive language access programs.

    See project
  • ABA Standards for Language Access in Courts

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    Access to justice is unattainable for those who are not proficient in English unless they also have access to language services that will enable them to understand and be understood. We believe that the Standards for Language Access in Courts will be an important tool to assist courts, court administrators, policy makers and others in creating systems for language access services, tailored to each jurisdiction, that will make the system of justice more fair and accessible to all in our country.

    See project
  • Language Access Assessment and Planning Tool for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted Programs

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    The goal of all language access planning and implementation is to ensure that your agency communicates effectively with limited English proficient (LEP) individuals.

    See project
  • Language Access Resource Center

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    The Language Access Resource Center (LARC) website provides information and resources about the rights of Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals. It describe the federal and New York State laws prohibiting discrimination against LEP individuals and the obligations of recipients of federal funding to ensure meaningful access.

    See project

Honors & Awards

  • Assistant Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award

    -

  • Assistant Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award

    -

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