In recent years, globalization has led to a marked increase in relations between countries and, consequently, in transnational agreements and contracts. The demand for legal translations is growing all the time.
While the legal translation market is expanding, barriers to entry and client expectations remain high. The legal translator's assignment is more than simply translating the document: he or she must be proficient in several skills in order to achieve a satisfactory result.
But what factors should be taken into account in order to offer a service in line with the market?
Advanced legal knowledge
First and foremost, legal translators need an advanced level of legal knowledge. For example, translating an agreement drafted in French into English involves transposing the principles of Roman law into common law. The rendering obtained in English will therefore not be totally identical to the source text, but equivalent.
Without a command of the main legal systems and their specific terminology, the translator is unable to produce an optimal result.
Excellent writing skills
Translation errors can have a considerable impact on the understanding of a legal document and the meaning of certain terms. As legal documents containdefined terms, often identified by the use of capital letters,the translator must take great care throughout the process to respect the typological features agreed.
As such errors cannot be made in a legal context, rigour and extreme editorial finesse are required to give the final result the desired meaning, down to the very last comma and capital letter.
Fluence in source and target languages
Like their generalist counterparts, legal translators must be proficient in both the source and target language of the document to be processed, in order to be able to produce a rendering that respects the meaning initially given to the text, and to adapt the translation to the context applied to the document.
By adopting our services, your legal document will be processed by an expert in your field of lawand a native speaker of the target language. Proofreading by a translator who also specialises in the law guarantees a result that combines quality and accuracy.
For more information, contact our team of experts on +33 (0)1 84 80 21 20 or by email at contact@legal230.com. They'll be delighted to provide solutions to your requests, 7 days a week, including evenings and weekends.