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| News > Teamwork in 65th Air Base Wing legal office works for you |
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Elisabete Machado, legal translator, and Dr. Nuno Lemos, host nation attorney, discuss legal matters at the legal office on Sept. 6, 2012, Lajes Field. Machado and Lemos are Portuguese professionals that are part of the 65th Air Base Wing legal office. They ensure all legal issues are handled in accordance with the Portuguese law. (Photo by Lucas Silva)
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Teamwork in 65th Air Base Wing legal office works for you
Posted 9/6/2012 Updated 9/6/2012
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by Staff Sgt. Erica Horner
65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
9/6/2012 - LAJES FIELD, Azores -- Like most legal offices across the Air Force, the Lajes Field legal office handles a multitude of issues for military members, ranging from legal advise to powers of attorney to personal matters such as marriages and divorces.
What makes Lajes' legal office unique is their constant interaction with the Portuguese Air Force in handling bilateral issues. For this reason, the Lajes legal office has a team of Portuguese professionals to ensure all matters are handled in accordance with the Portuguese law. These local nationals handle many issues with different Portuguese agencies off base including the local courts, civil registry, adoption team and immigration.
Dr. Nuno Lemos and Sra. Elisabete Machado, a host nation attorney and legal translator, respectively, enhance 65th Air Base Wing legal team's effectiveness in serving customers and maintaining host nation relations.
"We're here to maintain continuity and good bilateral relations," said Sra. Elisabete Machado, a Legal Translator for the 65th Air Base Wing, who has been working as a translator on base for 23 years. "We are different cultures, so if you don't have that bridge, then it'll be difficult for both sides to communicate."
Without the Portuguese liaisons, military members would have to pay for their services off base, and these costs are high, especially if the Airmen are not familiar with the law, or how to navigate the area.
In addition to off base legal matters the 65th Air Base Wing legal team is heavily involved with Portuguese and American labor relations.
"The Portuguese military attorney and my office work a number of bilateral issues, the majority being labor concerns. Per the Labor Agreement and Work Regulation our commands are considered the "first level" for all labor complaints and disciplinary actions," said Maj. Christina Jimenez, the Staff Judge Advocate for the 65th Air Base Wing Legal office.
Last year, Machado handled a unique case for one of Lajes' military members. Capt. Brandon Morgan, the Physical Medicine Flight Commander for the 65th Medical Operations Squadron, and his family wanted to adopt a 3-year-old boy, Ruben, from a local orphanage.
"Senhora Elisabete gave us an overview of how the adoption process would work for us here and identified the pros and cons of each process," said Morgan. "She made sure that we understood some of the challenges that we would face."
Machado also accompanied the Morgan family to several appointments to ease the process.
"Without the assistance of the legal office, especially Elizabete, we probably would have never been able to adopt our son while we were here," said Morgan. "They did a fantastic job serving as a liaison between us and the Portuguese government. "I am sure the process is as smooth as it is because a lot of work has been done in the past to build these relationships and these processes."
As is common in legal matters there are a number of points of views and both sides don't always agree, but cooperation and mutual understanding is especially important when handling these cases.
"We work together to ensure all parties have complete information from which to make a decision, and then we jointly write a response," said Jimenez. "We endeavor to come to a joint resolution when possible."
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