Translation of legal documents is an important, complex task that causes a lot of headaches not only for lawyers, but also for the heads of legal departments and companies themselves. Because the cost of error is high – inaccuracies in translation can result in serious legal and financial costs – lawyers engaged in this task spend a lot of time and effort on it, often distracting company executives and other employees.

So why is it that when lawyers translate contracts, it often becomes a problem?

By virtue of their specialty, lawyers are often meticulous perfectionists, as they bear a gigantic responsibility for the accuracy of contracts and other legal documents. Therefore, translating contracts on their own becomes a difficult and agonizing task for them. Not being professional translators, lawyers spend a colossal amount of nerves, energy and time on a few pages of a contract. They skip lunches, come to work earlier than everyone else and leave later. The whole point is that they simply do not have a hand in such activities and do not have tools available that could make the task much easier. As a result, the conclusion of the deal is delayed due to the lack of translation of the contract, and the lawyer himself feels responsible for this and is nervous.

Since any small detail can cause problems for the entire company, lawyers very carefully and meticulously double-check all the details in the translation, driving their bosses and colleagues crazy. And with all the revisions and changes that arise in the process of discussing the contract with the counterparty, the already slow process of translation is delayed even more.

Why do lawyers have negative experiences with translators?

The logical solution to the problem is to hire freelance translators or turn to a translation agency. However, many lawyers have had negative experiences with both. Most freelancers do not understand the intricacies of translating legal documents, which causes the quality of the text to suffer. On top of that, they have an uneven workload and can fail at the most crucial moment. And to top it all off, freelancers are difficult to hold accountable in case of translation errors.

In the case of translation agencies, a common complaint among lawyers is the inconsistent level of quality. This may indeed be the case if the agency assigns documents from one client to different translators and does not pay due attention to quality control.

In both cases, the lawyer, frightened by the negative experience, checks the translations of contracts to the letter and either redoes everything himself or constantly returns and demands corrections. All this again leads to delays in crucial company processes and even conflicts with management. The time and effort of lawyers and company managers is wasted, and the problem is not solved.

What tools help our translation company to ensure consistent quality?

In cooperation with the company, the text of a legal document is handed over to a team of specialists, who then work on the task. In the meantime, the lawyer himself is engaged in his immediate duties. Professional translators specializing in legal subjects work on the translation. Such translators in our team have higher legal education and many years of experience. The translation is checked and edited by a separate editor, who also has a law degree.

Uniformity and accuracy of translation are achieved with the help of special tools – CAT-system Phrase (formerly Memsource), as well as automated Quality Assurance (QA) system. The CAT system helps you translate typical text fragments and make quick edits without having to translate the entire document again.

The client’s standard wording and glossary are saved in the CAT system, so they do not have to be translated again each time. This not only reduces translation time, but also ensures consistent quality and uniformity. Unfortunately, it should be noted that CAT-systems are used by no more than 20% of translation agencies. The point is that they are quite expensive – the price of the question is several thousand dollars monthly – and you need to know how to work with them. For the same reasons, they are never used by lawyers themselves.

All terminology and nuances are discussed before starting work on a particular document and are taken into account in the translation process. There is always a manager in touch with the client, who promptly communicates all questions arising from the client, as well as changes that appear in the process of discussing the transaction with the counterparty. All changes are entered into the CAT system, allowing the translator to immediately correct individual fragments of the contract without having to translate the entire text again.

A typesetter is also often involved in working on complex documents. He or she prepares the formatting of the document in a special way so that the layout, paragraph numbering, table of contents and other elements are correct in the translation (even in bilingual form!). Thanks to the work of several professional specialists – translators, editors, typesetters – the company can provide a ready, checked and correctly formatted translation in a short period of time.

As a result, when working with a translation company that uses professional tools and monitors the quality of work, the time to translate contracts is significantly reduced, and the efforts of lawyers and managers are saved. They can do their work without distractions and be sure that the translation will be of high quality.

If you need to translate legal documentation, please contact us – we will be happy to help you. Email us at alefcom1@gmail.com or via whatsapp.

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