When do companies need legal documents translated?
If you work with clients from other countries, you need legal translation services.
As a law firm, you work with language in many different ways. During depositions and negotiations, you will be talking face-to-face with clients and the other party’s lawyer. They talk to each other through written documents, such as pleadings, discovery documents and court filings. Probably you may not find a moment in your day that does not involve language issues of some kind and therefore require certain legal translation.
If the client or litigants speak a different language, it can be difficult to communicate with them. So, when does your law firm need legal translation, i.e. legal, specialist language services?
What is legal document translation?
Translating legal documents is the process of converting legal materials from one language to another, while preserving their original meaning and also preparing them for usage in a legal environment. This process often requires professional translators who are familiar with the laws of the country and understand how their work affects legal action.
There are many different services that can help you translate legal documents. Legal document translation, certified legal translation, legal interpretation, on-site staff, e-discovery support, document production, transcription and legal localisation are all part of these services. Polyglot establishes the connection between and legal translation experts who work in partnership with them to manage complex legal documents.
Let’s talk more about these services and how to use them.
E-discovery, i.e. electronic discovery in other languages
Electronic discovery, also known as “e-discovery”, is the process of reviewing information that is or could be used as evidence in a lawsuit or investigation. It is an important part of the work of a law firm. No matter what your practice, most of the documents you review will be digital. During the discovery process, you should be able to locate and produce all kinds of electronic records, from computer generated real estate to secured emails.
You shall be able to read and manage these documents in any language. Even if you only work with English-speaking clients, you may also have to get into interaction with people who speak other languages. To understand the evidence, you need an experienced legal translator to translate multilingual e-discovery content.
One form of legal translation: document production
At some point in your career, you may need to send documents for international litigation. If this means translating documents into the court’s native language, you will need to ensure that they are translated correctly. In other situations, you may need to translate a document that the other party has given you.
Rule 34(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states that the document you request shall be provided in a form that can be used. However, this rule does not apply to translations from one spoken or written language to another.
If you receive a document in another language, you shall translate it. You may have to pay the costs, but it is still your responsibility to find a good legal translator. If the outcome of a case depends on how well you translate, it is preferable to work with someone who has done it before.
Legal interpreting services
Lawyers often need to interview or take testimony from witnesses who do not speak English. No matter what language they are written in, letters and paperwork shall be clear and accurate. A legal interpreter must not only translate what the speaker says, but also describes the tone of voice, body language and nuances of meaning.
This level of accuracy is necessary for all oral testimony, whether in or out of court. Meanwhile, the interpreter shall be able to translate at a high-level corresponding to the jargon of the courtroom into the witness’s native language. This requires a thorough knowledge of both the language to be translated and legal English.
Legal localisation services
Serving people from different cultures is a rich and rewarding livelihood. But it can be difficult to talk to all your clients, especially if some of them live in different countries.
Localisation goes beyond translation. It allows you to speak to clients or give testimony in multiple languages, while preserving the exact meaning and cultural nuances of the original statement.
Legal localisation is also important if you are marketing your legal services or publishing research in another language. It is true that misunderstandings can damage your client base or your reputation. You can not let potential clients or colleagues in other parts of the world think that your public-facing materials are difficult to understand or strange.
If you localise your content, you will seem to be even more credible. Your content will look and sound like it comes from the same culture as your customers, which will help build trust in your new market.
Authentic translation services
You can not take any chances with the veracity of a certified document you want to use in court. Because the US legal system does not have a specific way to certify translation services, it falls to lawyers to find an experienced translation team.
When it comes to certified documents, this team should include more than one person. A certified translation is a multi-step process in which the translated document is checked against the original source several times. This requires experts from different fields to work together.
In the case of certified documents, a linguistic expert goes through the translated material line by line to make sure that everything is correct.
At Polyglot, we employ experts who can translate legal documents into more than 40 languages. For certified materials, a language expert will review the translated document line by line to make sure everything is correct.
Why legal translation?
In the legal field, words mean everything. An entire case can depend on how a single word is used. This is even more important when someone is translating or interpreting.
Small mistakes may lead to prolonged court battles that may last for years. You can avoid all this trouble and the costs that go with it by hiring a certified translator. Polyglot has been helping lawyers for years. We have worked with many offices and authorities. When clients need things done quickly and accurately, they know they can count on us.
You can rely on us to deliver high-quality work, whether you need legal interpreting services for a negotiation, a certified translation of important documents, or on-site experts. We are here to help you overcome language barriers. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you with our legal translation and interpreting services.
