Transjuridique | Legal Translation Decoded: What Every Lawyer Should Know

Barbara J. Macon, Esq. | Transjuridique | Revised: May 2025

Overview

The legal translator is often the overlooked, underestimated, and underutilized member of the legal project team. As The Economist once put it, translators are "the unrecognized facilitators of the world," yet they, alongside interpreters, "are rarely acknowledged for their true value."

While a team might dedicate countless hours to drafting and refining a key document, far less attention is paid to the quality of legal translations—particularly their accuracy, clarity, and fidelity to the original language. Legal translations are often relegated to the background, yet they play a crucial role in the success of any project.

History is full of examples where poor translations or interpretations had significant consequences. In 1877, an Italian astronomer observed "canali" on the surface of Mars. Poorly translated as "canals"—suggesting artificial waterways dug by extraterrestrial intelligence, rather than "channels" (natural or dredged)—this error fueled the myth of a Martian civilization. More recently, Nikita Khrushchev's famous statement was translated into English as "We will bury you," a literal version of the Russian original that would more accurately be rendered as "We will outlast you" or "We will see you buried."

In 2009, HSBC had to spend millions of dollars to rebrand after its slogan "Assume Nothing" was awkwardly translated into some markets as "Do Nothing." Even punctuation can be costly: the omission of the "Oxford comma" cost a U.S. dairy company $5 million in unpaid overtime after a class-action lawsuit.

Legal translation is a critical component of the work of lawyers operating in a multinational legal context. From the preliminary analysis of a memorandum of understanding, letter of intent, term sheet, or non-disclosure agreement, to the finalization and signing of definitive contracts—whether in partnership agreements, mergers and acquisitions, or distribution deals—legal translation is essential at every key stage of international negotiations. It allows parties to understand the legal issues at hand, ensure a shared understanding of contractual obligations, and make proposals or counter offers with full knowledge of the facts.

In the context of international litigation or arbitration, legal translation plays a pivotal role: it ensures the accurate and faithful reproduction of the parties' positions in pleadings and supporting documents, thus facilitating the work of counsel, arbitrators, and judges. A thorough translation, carried out with a solid understanding of the law, can make all the difference in defending a client’s interests on the international stage.

The Role of the Legal Translator

To successfully carry out complex projects, a legal translator must possess:(i) a deep command of at least two working languages (one of which should be their native language),(ii) extensive experience in legal translation, and a reputation for rigor, precision, and professionalism, and(iii) in some cases, expertise in specialized legal fields (e.g., complex transactions, life sciences, patents).

Understanding the Role of the Legal Translator

To fully leverage the expertise of a legal translator, clients must understand the critical role the translator plays in a project.

The legal translator’s mission is to produce a translation that (i) accurately, precisely, and transparently reflects the content of the original document in its source language, respecting the specific terminology and legal nuances of each legal system, (ii) uses the appropriate legal terminology in the target country, and (iii) clearly conveys the equivalents of legal concepts in the source text within the target language. Legal translation should be as fluid as the original, while retaining its spirit and intent. It faithfully mirrors the source text without interpreting or altering its meaning.

A legal translator must possess a solid understanding of the relevant legal principles and precedents in the jurisdictions involved. A good understanding of their role helps create an environment conducive to the translator's efficiency and, ultimately, the success of the project.

Client-Legal Translator Relationship

The relationship between the client and the legal translator is built on trust, precision, and confidentiality. The client expects the translator to have a firm grasp of the applicable law and the linguistic subtleties of the legal systems concerned. Clear communication from the outset is essential to define expectations: type of translation (certified or not), deadlines, format, preferred terminology, and the use of tools like glossaries or translation memories.

The translator must ensure a clear understanding of the document's legal context and ask pertinent questions in case of ambiguity. They are also responsible for meeting deadlines and delivering accurate work, tailored to its intended use (litigation, transaction, official filing, etc.). A long-term professional relationship is built on consistent quality, mutual respect, and absolute confidentiality.

It is not uncommon for the client and the legal translator to enter into a service agreement, which often includes a confidentiality obligation on the translator’s part. Such an agreement helps secure the relationship, set mutual expectations, and ensure the discretion needed to handle sensitive or confidential documents.

Early Involvement in the Legal Project

The legal translator should be integrated into the legal project team from the early stages. They should receive (i) a clear and comprehensive project description, and (ii) all available documents already translated into the target language (e.g., in English) to ensure terminological and stylistic consistency throughout the project, aligned with the business activities and sector of the company. They may also be invited to attend team meetings at various stages of the project’s development. This level of involvement fosters a better understanding of the context, enhances the translation process's efficiency, and ensures a high-quality final result. Keeping the translator informed of any changes to the project's scope or timeline is also essential.

The legal team should designate a primary contact to ensure smooth and continuous communication with the translator, including updating and reviewing the project’s glossary.

Providing Clear and Detailed Instructions

The client is responsible for providing clear, precise, and understandable instructions. The legal translator must receive detailed, contextualized guidance to ensure the work meets expectations. Vague instructions or a lack of communication can harm the translation quality and jeopardize the project. The client must also be open to answering the translator's questions or addressing any concerns that arise during the assignment.

The legal translator’s role is not to assess the content of the document or to select the sections for translation. For example, if the client requests a translated summary to provide legal advice to their client, it is the client’s responsibility to specify which sections to include. In the absence of such instructions, the translator must consult the client before proceeding.

Workflow Monitoring and Control

The flow of documents transmitted to the legal translator must be rigorously monitored and controlled. A lack of control mechanisms can lead to significant and avoidable issues with translation quality and integrity. This is particularly true when multiple lawyers are involved in reviewing documents. Each lawyer may add comments or make changes without considering others' input, leading to omissions, overlaps, or improper integration of revisions.

To ensure clarity and efficiency, a consolidated, final version of the document—incorporating all approved changes—should be prepared before being sent to the translator. All unresolved comments and questions must be addressed beforehand. These tasks should be handled by the legal team and should not fall on the translator.

Each version sent to the translator must clearly indicate its version number and, where applicable, the date and time of modification. It is crucial to avoid integrating changes from different versions into the same document.

New versions should be provided to the translator according to a reasonable schedule, allowing optimal processing at each stage. Progress monitoring and schedule management can be handled by the designated project contact.

Allowing Adequate Time for Legal Translation

Setting a realistic deadline for legal translation depends on a deep understanding of the complexity of the task. Legal translators follow a rigorous writing process similar to that of an attorney drafting the original document. In addition to writing, they must identify the applicable law in the relevant jurisdictions and incorporate the corresponding legal terminology.

This is followed by proofreading and revising, which includes adjustments made by both the translator and the legal team (lawyers). The time allotted for translation should not significantly differ from that given to the original drafter.

Even if a translation is described as "for informational purposes only," it remains crucial to the success of the project. Every legal translation requires adequate time to be completed to a high standard.

Establishing and Meeting Reasonable Deadlines

To ensure the translator can deliver high-quality work, it is essential to set and adhere to reasonable deadlines. The client is responsible for defining these deadlines, clearly communicating them, and ensuring they are respected.

Any changes to the timeline must be communicated to the translator immediately. A reduction in the original deadline directly affects the translator’s schedule and can disrupt ongoing work. Careful planning avoids such disruptions and ensures smooth and effective collaboration.

Tools Used by Legal Translators

Two essential tools for legal translators working on multilingual projects are:

• A glossary, and

• A style guide.

Glossaries

A project-specific glossary is a document that lists the legal translations of frequently used terms, compiled by both the legal team and the translators. This glossary, typically created using Excel or translation software, ensures consistent terminology throughout the project. It should be easily accessible and dynamic, updated throughout the project to guarantee coherent terminology usage in all legal translations.

Style Guide

A style guide governs how the legal translation should visually reflect the original document. Commonly used across multiple projects, this guide ensures the final product complies with citation systems and formatting conventions. The Chicago Manual of Style is often used in the U.S. and internationally, but similar guides are available in many jurisdictions. For large-scale multilingual projects involving several translators, a common style guide ensures consistency. The legal translation project manager provides the style guide for adherence.

Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) Tools and Machine Translation

In legal translation, two tools currently dominate the practice: Trados Studio, a CAT software, and DeepL, a machine translation platform. Both tools ensure enhanced data protection, guarantee confidentiality of the content processed, and preserve the document format.

Trados relies on a translation memory, which is built and enriched by the translator themselves, ensuring lasting terminological and stylistic consistency. This human-validation-based approach provides a more reliable and controlled translation, in continuity with previous work.

In contrast, DeepL uses artificial intelligence. Its engine, based on neural networks, is trained on millions of translated texts, but it does not guarantee domain-specific adequacy, especially in legal contexts or in terms of the translator's stylistic preferences. While DeepL offers speed, its content requires careful review to meet the precision demands of legal translation.

Finally, both CAT tools and machine translation platforms facilitate collaboration among multiple translators, especially on large or interconnected corpora, and enhance communication with clients. This collaborative workflow contributes to the project's terminological consistency and optimizes the translation process.

Trados, developed in the 1990s in Germany, is one of the most widely used translation tools in the professional sphere. Particularly suited for legal translation, it meets the requirements of consistency, precise terminology, and traceability. It operates on a translation memory, which is a database composed of translated segments validated by the translator, ensuring their reliability. When a similar segment appears in a new document, Trados automatically suggests the previously approved version, optimizing the processing of repetitive or similar documents (such as standard contracts, judgments, statutes) and ensuring terminological uniformity throughout a project.

Trados also allows the integration of client-specific or recognized legal glossaries, facilitating project tracking, multilingual project management, and collaborative work. In a legal context where fidelity, rigor, and stability of formulations are paramount, Trados is a valuable tool. However, its effectiveness heavily depends on the translator's linguistic and technical expertise, as they are the ones who can fully harness its potential while avoiding erroneous automation.

Founded in 2009 in Germany, the same country of origin as Trados, DeepL is a machine translation tool based on artificial intelligence. Leveraging neural networks trained on billions of multilingual sentences, it produces fluent, contextual translations close to human style. DeepL offers: (i) fast translation of texts or entire documents, (ii) rephrasing suggestions, (iii) choice of formality level (depending on the language), and (iv) customizable glossaries. It can thus be a valuable asset in legal translation when used strategically. With its contextual capabilities and superior accuracy in many language combinations, DeepL enables quick drafting of a first draft, particularly useful for handling large volumes within tight deadlines. It can also help legal translators identify certain syntactic structures, save time on repetitive segments, and harmonize certain formulations. When used wisely, it becomes a productivity aid rather than a substitute for human competence.

However, its use presents major limitations in legal translation. Unlike Trados, its translations do not come from a translation memory previously created and validated by the translator. DeepL generates its suggestions based on statistical and neural models, without guaranteeing terminological consistency or fidelity to previously adopted terminology choices in a given project. The tool does not always capture the subtleties of legal reasoning or the nuances of comparative legal systems, which can lead to misunderstandings or misleading equivalents. This is why the involvement of a qualified legal translator remains essential to validate, correct, or even rewrite certain sections. Integrated into a rigorous post-editing process, DeepL can contribute to high-quality legal translation, but it cannot replace human expertise.

Machine Translation and Artificial Intelligence in Legal Translation: A Future Solution or Legal Risk?

In some cases, and with the support of an experienced editor, machine translation may be considered. However, human intervention remains crucial. The rise of machine translation, powered by advanced technologies like deep neural networks, has transformed linguistic practices in many sectors, including law. While these tools now provide fast and often stylistically convincing translations, their use in a legal context must remain cautious, controlled, and always accompanied by qualified human revision.

In certain legal projects, machine translation can be an effective solution, particularly in the initial stages or in low-stakes contexts. It can be used for:• Initial document sorting during the review of evidence or discovery processes,• Quick drafting of internal memos or working notes not intended for external distribution,• Regulatory or case law monitoring in foreign jurisdictions,• Mass translation of standardized legal documents with low strategic value (e.g., general terms, template contracts),• Gathering information for preliminary legal research,• Or preparing drafts of multilingual compliance documents, to be adapted by an experienced legal translator.

In these cases, the goal is often to gain speed and visibility on large corpora without completely sacrificing quality, provided that human post-editing is included to correct any approximations or errors that could compromise the legal meaning of the text.

However, machine translation cannot reason legally, interpret specialized terminology, or grasp the conceptual subtleties unique to each legal system. Its accuracy is never guaranteed, and its unregulated use can entail significant risks. It should never be used for:• Contracts or agreements to be signed,• Litigious writings, such as pleadings or motions,• Legal opinions or formal recommendations,• Documents produced in legal proceedings (arbitration or litigation),• Or certified or sworn translations.

In these situations, only human translation, performed by a qualified professional, can guarantee the legal reliability of the text, its probative value, and compliance with procedural or regulatory requirements.

In conclusion, machine translation can find its place in certain legal projects, as long as it remains a tool for assistance, never a substitute for human intervention. The expertise of the legal translator or editor is essential to secure the final result, ensure fidelity to the source text, and maintain the legal safety of the client.

Legal Translations of Foreign Texts and Glossaries

Legal translators play a fundamental role in the smooth functioning of national, regional, and international institutions, such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the WTO, and the European Union. Their expertise is indispensable to ensuring mutual understanding within judicial systems worldwide. For example, in Japan, the Ministry of Justice provides a bilingual glossary to facilitate legal translation for informative and operational purposes.

Similarly, Brazil took a significant step in 2023 by publishing an English version of its Civil Code, a valuable tool for international business lawyers, facilitating legal exchanges with foreign companies. These examples illustrate the growing importance of high-quality legal translations, not only to ensure the accuracy of legal documents but also to foster effective legal strategies in a globalized context.

In short, legal translators do not merely transfer words from one language to another; they also facilitate communication between different legal systems, contributing to the integrity and effectiveness of international transactions.

Another Use of Legal Translations

Beyond their central role in contract negotiations and litigation procedures, legal translations are also valuable in administrative, fiscal, or regulatory processes involving multiple jurisdictions. They may be required when setting up subsidiaries abroad, filing trademarks or patents, responding to international tenders, or conducting compliance audits.

In these contexts, precise legal translation tailored to local law helps avoid misunderstandings, secures processes, and ensures document recognition by foreign authorities. It thus becomes a strategic lever for transparency, compliance, and smooth international exchanges.

Who Can Be a Legal Translator? Who Is a Lawyer-Linguist?

A legal translator is a highly qualified professional, with a solid command of both languages and the law. While no formal legal education is required to practice this profession, specialized training and academic qualifications in legal translation significantly enhance their credibility.

Unlike general translators, a legal translator must be proficient in legal terminology and understand the nuances of different legal systems. Their work demands absolute precision, as even the smallest inaccuracy can alter the meaning of a legal document.

Some legal translators, called lawyer - linguists, hold a law degree from a recognized institution, which gives them valuable dual expertise. Others are lawyers by training, having practiced in law firms or corporations. Their practical experience in legal interpretation, application, and advice enables them to approach complex texts with heightened precision and nuance.

The mastery of terminology is crucial. For example, the French term "procédure en référé" is not literally translated as "referee proceedings" but rather as "summary proceedings" or "emergency proceedings," depending on the context and the legal system of the target language. A competent legal translator will identify the exact equivalent, ensuring the legal meaning of the text is preserved while respecting the norms of comparative law.

Legal Translation Rate Guide

Legal translation rates are typically calculated per source word, though some providers may offer page-based or flat-rate pricing depending on the nature of the document. These rates are significantly higher than general translation rates due to the technical nature of legal language, the need for precision, and the responsibilities involved. Specialized fields like corporate law, contract law, international public law, or intellectual property require in-depth expertise and a perfect command of comparative legal vocabulary.

The final cost can also vary depending on several factors: the urgency of the project, the need for a certified or sworn translation, the volume of text to be processed, or the complexity of the original format (scanned PDFs, handwritten documents, etc.). "Rare" languages or those less commonly translated, such as Japanese, Arabic, or certain Eastern European languages, may lead to a price increase due to the lower availability of qualified translators. Translation agencies often charge higher rates, factoring in project management, internal revision, and quality guarantees, while independent translators, who are more flexible and accessible, may offer competitive prices while providing a personalized service and direct client contact.

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Conclusion

The role of the legal translator goes far beyond simple linguistic conversion; they are an essential link between legal systems and cultures. As globalization progresses, the demand for precise and contextually adapted legal translations continues to grow. Legal translators must combine linguistic skills with a deep understanding of legal frameworks to guarantee faithful and accurate translations.

The relationship between the translator and client is crucial, based on clear communication and mutual understanding of project requirements. Legal translations are used in various contexts, from contracts to litigation to regulatory compliance, requiring special attention to legal terminology and jurisdictional specifics.

While CAT tools and machine translation enhance efficiency, they must be accompanied by human expertise to preserve legal nuances. Choosing the ideal legal translator—combining linguistic mastery with specialized legal knowledge—ensures an accurate, contextually appropriate translation that minimizes risks and fosters positive outcomes in international legal matters.

Footnotes in French-language version omitted

For more information, visit:

Transjuridique | Legal Translations French – English in Paris

https://www.transjuridique.combarbara@transjuridique.comSpecialists in Legal Translation in Paris. Reliable French-English legal translation services. Your partner for overcoming linguistic barriers.