The challenges associated with legal translations – and the solutions

What are legal translations?

Legal translation is the process of translating legal and judicial documents and records into another language.

These documents are as diverse as the industries they come from. Whether business, insurance, medicine, real estate, sports law or finance … these and many other industries all work with a wide range of legal documents, including:

But despite their differences, they all have one thing in common: Every word carries weight and must be rendered precisely in a translation, since a mistranslated passage could have serious consequences.

That is why in-depth expert knowledge, which includes being familiar with the respective industry and the country-specific legal systems, is essential when it comes to legal translations.

It therefore stands to reason that clients will face some challenges when choosing a language service provider for their legal translations. As promised at the beginning of this article, we will now provide you with the answers to the most important questions on the topic of legal translations.

7 challenges and 7 solutions in the field of legal translation

As a provider of comprehensive language services in the field of law, we have the perfect solutions to your challenges.

Challenge 1 – High quality

As mentioned, the translation of legal texts requires utmost attention to detail. CB Multilingual meets this requirement by assigning the translation of your important texts to sworn legal translators who

1. have many years of experience and/or a legal background,
2. know the target language, target culture and country-specific legal systems like the back of their hand and/or
3. are accredited with the Supreme Court of the Canton of Zurich.

Quality control is based on the four- or six-eyes principle, which means that each translation is checked by either one or two additional translators to ensure that it is correct both linguistically and in terms of content. If desired and depending on the project, we can also involve specialist lawyers who have the appropriate foreign language skills.

Challenge 2 – Minimal administrative and coordination effort

Your to-do list is probably long enough already, so translating your documents shouldn’t add three more items to it. That’s why, as a full-service agency, we handle the whole process from start to finish, ensuring that your legal texts are translated to the highest standard. Simply send us your texts, along with details of your requirements and any supporting information, and we’ll take care of the rest.

Challenge 3 – Simple and direct communication

Due to our many years of experience in the field of law, we are no strangers to technical jargon. In other words: We speak your language. This not only simplifies communication, but also avoids misunderstandings. And should we have any questions about anything, we will contact you to clarify them quickly.

Challenge 4 – Personal service

Legal translation often involves complex issues. Having to explain them over and over again to different people can become tiring. To simplify the process and ensure that there are no misunderstandings due to information being passed on second-hand, we assign you a single, dedicated contact person who knows your project inside out.

Are there any updates or changes to the project? Then just let us know and we’ll take the necessary steps.

Challenge 5 – Flexibility and speed

This brings us to the next point: flexibility and speed. Maybe you don’t need a translation at all, but just a summary of a legal text written in another language. From police reports to supplementary documentation for a request for legal assistance – our experts and legal linguists will take a close look at your texts and summarise the relevant content in the target language.

The question often arises as to whether a document needs to be certified. Together with a notary’s signature, a stamp or a seal, this certification confirms the authenticity of the document and is sometimes required by authorities, such as for deeds. Here, too, we are happy to do the work for you and take care of everything.

Especially when it comes to legal texts, speed is often of the essence. With our large pool of specialised mother-tongue translators and legal linguists, we are able to translate your documents quickly so that you are sure not to miss any deadlines.

Challenge 6 – Value for money

How much does a legal translation cost? Unfortunately, it is not possible to give a general estimate. To provide you with an accurate quotation, we need to see the text beforehand. What we can already tell you, however, is that the price of a high-quality legal translation will depend on the target language, as well as the complexity and the length of the text.

Challenge 7 – Confidential handling of information

No matter what type of text, no matter what the language: We appreciate that the content of your legal texts is highly sensitive. That’s why we treat your documents as strictly confidential. The key – quite literally – lies in encryption. With encrypted data transmission, you can be sure that your information will not be seen by any unauthorised external persons.

In addition to accredited and experienced legal translators, lawyers and legal linguists in Switzerland and around the world, our experts in the field also include our managing director Silvia Cerrella Bauer, who works in the languages English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Since 2013, she has been regularly providing liaison interpreting services for authorities such as public prosecutors’ offices, district courts and the Supreme Court of the Canton of Zurich, and she is also highly skilled at translating police reports, court rulings and many other legal texts.

If you want to be sure that the translation of your complex legal texts is in good hands, get in touch with us. As a translation agency for lawyers, we will ensure that your important legal documents are translated to the highest standard.