Do you need help translating a contract, non-disclosure agreement, or court proceedings? Be careful when choosing a translating service.
Legal translation isn’t like other translating projects. While a general translator might effortlessly tackle marketing pamphlets or sales copy, they will undoubtedly meet their match with legal documents. You need a certified legal translation service if you expect efficient and accurate assistance. Here’s why:
Legalese can be difficult for the layperson
The main challenge posed by legal translation is its specificity. The law is more complicated than everyday language — in any language. Whether you need help converting English to Arabic, French, or Danish, these languages have unique technical terms.
These terms don’t always have a word-for-word translation that you can look up in the dictionary. As a result, only translators with professional legal experience will know the correct word or phrase in their language.
More still, many of the laws in the UK have strong lexical ties to Latin. If your practice is based in London, the average contract likely contains Latin phrases, writs, and maxims. These are standard terms in your line of work, although they can confuse someone without a background in law.
It might be the law
In some cases — as is the case for immigration law — the government, judicial system, and financial institutions need official documents and applications translated and notarised by a licensed professional.
These formal requirements mean you can’t let a friend or someone on staff handle the translations, no matter how good they are with foreign languages. By law, you’ll need certified translation services in London to ensure you meet the standards of the laws in the UK and the other country.
It prevents costly mistakes
A small error in legal translation can have a big impact on your time and budget. In many cases, a single mistake may be considered false representation, and it may be grounds to deny your application or request. Having to resubmit a corrected copy can cause devastating setbacks, especially if you’re trying to spearhead an international business venture or coordinate immigration.
There’s always a cost to resubmitting paperwork, but there could be harsher penalties in your future if an inferior translation service makes a mistake. You may have to pay a fine if a governing body believes you’ve misrepresented yourself or your firm.
A certified legal translation service understands the importance of getting it right on the first try. They pay attention to the fine print of the law so that their final work is technically perfect. Their teams of legal specialists work diligently to produce the most accurate text possible, and their proofreaders ensure there are no lingering mistakes before you submit it.
How can you find certified legal translation services?
Anyone who uses a search engine like Google has the skills to kickstart their search for a competent agency. You can begin your search by typing the following query into your search bar: legal translators London.
In a few seconds, you’ll have thousands of results sorted by relevancy and popularity. However, you’ll want to click beyond the first listing. Contrast and compare the services of at least five legal translation services, remembering to look for certification, professional translators, and a quote that fits your budget. Eventually, you’ll find an agency that’s up to the task, whatever it may be.
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