Translation For Lawyers

We've blogged about professional language translation services in the context of international mergers and acquisitions. Typically, shareholders of a company that was the absorbed company in an M&A, they were issued with, as consideration for their loss of shares, shares in the surviving company. However, under the rules of Private International Law, money is now permitted as consideration and it is permissible to use shares of the surviving company - thus allowing for a triangular merger.

Continue reading " Legal Translation and Triangular Mergers in the International Context" »

Legal translation and legal interpreting services play an important role in the practice of law. A recent series of legal opinions have addressed the trend for lawyers having a "mobile practice" where they tend to practice across and between jurisdictions. In New York, for example, the State Bar Ethics Committee is urging the development of rules for out-of-state lawyers serving as in-house counsel for New York-headquartered companies. A federal district court ruled that a New York law requiring non-resident licensed lawyers to maintain a New York office could give rise to a challenge under the Comity Clause. And in yet another case a California attorney challenged Utah's admission policy, which requires out-of-state attorneys to hold a law degree from an ABA-accredited school. In the case, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that "a lawyer's unblemished record can outweigh the educational accreditation requirements".

Continue reading "Legal Translation and the Blurring Jurisdictional Boundary" »

Professional language translation and court interpretation services play an important role in private international law. The questions is, under the umbrella of private international law, how are cross-border mergers and stock swaps viewed? In an international M&A, corporation X acquires the assets of or shares in corporation Y. In return, Y receives either shares in X or money. This entire process is governed by internal procedures, guided in some way by generally accepted rules and regulations known as private international law. According to private international law, the theory of conflict of laws applies, meaning the contract between X and Y is regulated by the rules and regulations of the jurisdiction in which the contract was entered. However, according to internal procedures, X's actions would fall under the laws of the jurisdiction where it is incorporated and Y where it is incorporated.

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We've blogged about the importance of professional legal translation services for international estate planning. When one owns property in a foreign country and they are a resident non-citizen, this will have an impact on both their US and foreign estate taxes. Under US law, three factors effect estate tax: citizenship, residency and the location of the property. All US citizens are subject to taxation on all property located anywhere in the world. Needless to say, this opens the door to the risk of double taxation, as the property located in the foreign country may also be subject to taxation by that country's laws. More so, estate taxes often fall outside double taxation treaties.

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Legal translation and legal language interpreting services play an important role in international estate planning. Let's look at the non-tax issues that should be taken into consideration when working with a foreign client who has property located in a foreign country.

First, a will or trust created according to the laws of the United States may not be applicable to the property located in a foreign jurisdiction. More often than not, the distribution of foreign property will be controlled by foreign law, meaning that you will need to have a will or trust prepared in accordance to that country's laws. This will require a foreign language translation of the foreign law and of any existing wills and trusts that were previously created.

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Language translation and foreign language interpreting issues are often a consideration when doing business abroad. When doing business with foreign suppliers, one should seriously consider having them sign an OEM Agreement that forbids them from having any direct contact with one's US customers. Without such an agreement, the foreign suppliers can contact all US customers. This, needless to say, is bad for business as when one's customers' learn where they are getting the product from, they may go directly to the supplier instead of to the original company. Furthermore, it is suggested that a company using foreign suppliers should also have their US customers sign an agreement not to deal directly with any of that company's suppliers.

Continue reading "Language Translation and Tortuous Interference with a Contractual Relationship" »