Translation For Lawyers

Lawyers, who represent foreign-born individuals, face a number of challenges. And while some of them, such as language barriers, can be overcome with the help of a competent court interpreter, other barriers- cultural and conceptual- require a good understanding of the culture and the legal system of the foreign client's country of origin, and the ability to educate the newcomers about our legal system.

Continue reading "Translation for the USCIS and Immigration Attorneys: Share Foreign-Language Translations of "The Federal Court System in the United States" with Your Foreign Clients" »

Would your foreign-born clients appreciate getting U.S. government documents, translated into Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Chinese, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Greek? And how about translations into Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Haitian-Creole? You bet!

Continue reading "Government Document Translations in Languages of Your Multilingual Clients" »

On August 21, 2007 the Patent and Trademark Office published "Changes To Practice for Continued Examination Filings, Patent Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claims, and Examination of Claims in Patent Applications” in Federal Register/ Vol. 72, No. 161.

When it comes to patent translations and to compliance with the U.S. Patent Law at large, you don’t want to gamble with your client’s need for professional foreign-language technical translations. You want to make sure that your client's application and other technical documents are translated by professional human translators, and not by mindless machines.

Continue reading "On USPTO’s New Foreign-Language Document Translation Requirements" »

For any nation, adoption of a new legal system is a major event. It entails a learning curve, not unlike learning a foreign language, or experiencing another culture. And it is certainly true in the case of Japan's plan to institute a new jury system in 2009.

Continue reading "New Jury System Will Alter Japan's Cultural Patterns" »

Is your client thinking about filing an application with the European Patent Office (EPO)? Accurate patent translations play an important role in every stage of the process, and shouldn’t be gambled with.

The European Patent Office has three official languages: English, French and German. It permits the filing of an application in one of its three official languages.

Continue reading "Patent Translations into Official Languages of EPO’s Contracting States Essential for Obtaining European Patents" »

A limited number of French, German, Austrian, and Israeli legal materials and their German into English, French into English, and Hebrew into English translations are available for free through the The Institute for Transnational Law’s Web site. These legal documents are from the fields of constitutional, administrative, contract and tort law.

Continue reading "French-English, German-English, and Hebrew-English Translations of Foreign Laws Available for Free" »

In today's multilingual America bilingual individuals are occasionally selected to sit on a jury in civil, or and in criminal cases. In the course of the jury trial attorneys often need to present evidence, which exists in languages other than English. When taped-recorded conversations in a foreign language are part of the evidence, an English translation of the foreign language tape recording - referred to as the official English translation/ interpretation transcript - is provided to the jurors.

Continue reading "New Jury Instruction To Address English Translation of Foreign-Language Taped-Recorded Evidence" »

As global e-commerce continues to grow, many law firms and corporate legal departments will face the challenges of transnational litigation. And I’m not talking about the obvious need for having their English-language legal documents translated into foreign languages and making sure that such document translations will withstand the scrutiny of international courts.

Continue reading "Court Allows Service of Process on Foreign Defendants by E-Mail" »

Which culture would you rather be born into: individualistic, or collectivist?
Can you predict, how your foreign clients will answer this question?

Did you know that English is the only major language in which the pronoun "I" is capitalized? No wonder our mainstream individualistic culture values the "I" mentality, and puts the emphasis on the individual over the group. It is acceptable and appropriate in our culture to blow one's own horn. We even say, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease".

Continue reading "Distinguish Between Individualistic and Collectivist Cultures when Dealing with Foreign Nationals" »

Old habits die hard. And so do one’s cultural values. People can easily move from one country to another, from one continent to another, but they rarely travel light. They always carry their cultural baggage with them.

How well do you know your law firm's foreign clients?

Is your foreign client influenced by the "I", or by the "we" mentality? Can you guess, what moral choices your non-English-speaking clients would make? Can you predict, for instance, how your foreign client perceives he can get wealthy?

Continue reading "For Russians, Influential Connections, Not Hard Work, Key to Wealth" »