Published on : 22 April 20203 min reading time
Given the magnitude of the challenges involved in translating legal documents, the services of experienced language experts have become a vital necessity for some companies. Are you considering using a translation agency? It is best not to make a mistake and to trust only true professionals. You can base your search on many criteria.
Favour agencies with a team of translators specialising in law
Firstly, legal translation, as its name suggests, involves translating legal texts from one language into another. The documents to be translated are documents related to Law and the Law. In particular, distribution contracts, licence agreements, employment contracts, legislative texts, guarantee contents, notarial deeds, shareholders’ agreements, commercial contracts, international conventions and treaties, etc. are concerned by legal translation.
If you wish to invest a certain amount of money to outsource the translation of your legal documents, it is best to use a translation service provider with translators who have in-depth knowledge of the law and the vocabulary inherent in it. A good legal translator must always have a perfect command of the source and target languages. He or she must be able to translate the various ambiguities in a relevant manner. In addition, such a translator must also have the latest drafting skills.
Before deciding on anything, take the time to carefully analyse the chosen agency’s fields of activity. Normally, a competent agency must have a large number of translators able to work on a wide range of legal topics: civil law, international law, labour law, criminal law, social law, business law, economic law, constitutional law, tax law, European law…
A good translation agency offers sworn translation services
A good agency provides clients with sworn or notarized translation services. Concretely, not all legal translators are authorized to perform certified translations. That is why you should be careful about this subject, otherwise you may be confronted with scam artists. In order to qualify for this title, the translator in question must be recognised as an expert by a Court of Appeal. What’s more, he is the only translator who can certify a legal translation. In order to avoid unpleasant surprises, it is recommended to check whether the translator is registered on an official list with a Court of Appeal.
In addition, the service provider must be certified to the quality standards related to its field. This certification is awarded by bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) .
It’s better not to rely on first impressions…
Don’t rush to choose the first sworn translation agency that has aroused your interest. Try to find out about many agencies so that you can easily compare the rates offered. This is because translation rates may differ from one agency to another. Then, do not hesitate to make an appointment with the service providers who have caught your attention with the aim of engaging in a dialogue with them. In this way, it is easier to communicate certain information to them, such as the type of document to be translated, deadlines, layout, and so on. From the very first meeting, you can already be assured of the expertise, responsiveness and relational quality of the agency that will take charge of your legal translation project.