Translation For Lawyers

Language barriers can easily be eliminated with the help of professional legal translation and interpreting services. One area of international law ripe with potential for cultural clashes is the developing field of e-discovery. For example, when navigating between e-discovery laws in the United States and the European Union, clients are often stuck 'between a rock and a hard place' when attempting to manage the risks of transferring personal data in international litigation.

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Multilingual legal language translation services are vital for attorneys in order to admit foreign language documents into evidence. But can such websites as facebook and MySpace be entered into a case as evidence? In a recent Indiana criminal court case, the Supreme Court ruled that it can be used. In the case, the Defendant was charged with murder but plead the defense of voluntary intoxication and insanity. However, the sole issue on appeal was whether the court improperly admitted into evidence a posting on the defendant's MySpace page. The Court ruled that the evidence was probative as to the Defendant's state of mind - which was the main issue of the case.

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Earlier we've blogged about document translation in the context of foreign regulatory evidence in products liability cases and about the role of professional translating and interpreting services in enforcing U.S. judgments in Europe. As the business world becomes more and more global, there are increasing instances of conflict of law questions. Essentially, a conflict of law arises whenever a business transaction spans two different countries.

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With the growing economic and political strength of the European Union, more and more transatlantic business is being conducted. This leads to an increase of transatlantic business contracts. Such contracts need to be translated into the language or languages of the European country, with which the U.S. company is conducting business. And, the more international business transactions there are, the more blurred the law that governs the enforcement of contracts becomes.

Continue reading "Legal Document Translation, and Enforcing U.S. Judgments in Europe" »

When a party relies on a piece of documentary evidence written in a foreign language, they must have the document translated into English and file an affidavit attesting to the accuracy of the translation.

So what happens when both parties submit separate affidavits by two different document translators attesting to having submitted an accurate translation?

Continue reading "Certified Language Translator's Affidavit, and Professional Translation & Interpreting Services for Litigation, Court Proceedings & Arbitration Proceedings" »

As the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is aimed primarily at international transactions, the issue of accurate foreign language translation becomes essential to avoiding legal trouble. According to the FCPA, it is a crime to, among other things, to bribe a foreign official.

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When it comes to depositions or Examinations Before Trial (EBTs) involving non-English-speaking witnesses, the last thing an attorney wants is surprises - especially from their client. This is why preparing your client and all other individuals involved in the deposition is essential. Nowhere is this truer than when dealing with a foreign language speaking witness, who requires services of a deposition interpreter, in the context of a cross-cultural deposition.

When preparing for a foreign language deposition, keep these tips in mind:

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When talking about foreign language translation and interpretation and foreign languages in the legal sense, it is natural to think in terms of the act of translating a legal document or testimony from one language to another. However, when used in the context of international law, this concept also means translating and interpreting foreign laws from one legal language to another.

Continue reading "Legal Document Translation, Translated Laws and Documents- the Other Side of Language Translation Process" »

As more and more countries are opening up to Western trade, there is an influx of securities and related litigation matters, often requiring professional translation services. A prime example is China. As more and more of its products come to foreign shores, it is beginning to feel the pressure put on by a foreign legal system. In other words, when a Chinese product or company has connections to the U.S., it can quickly become snared in the U.S. legal system - which is an entirely different dragon to what China is used to.

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Earlier we blogged about the role of foreign language translation in transnational litigation. When a foreign company is involved in U.S. litigation, regardless of whether it is against a U.S. company or not, there are several important factors to keep in mind. As an attorney representing the foreign company, of particular interest is the extent of attorney-client privilege. As both the U.S. and foreign country's Code of Civil Procedure may apply - knowing when communications are privileged and to whom this privilege extends to is essential.

Continue reading "Legal Document Translations for Lawyers, Attorney-Client Privilege and Foreign Companies in U.S. Courts" »

Like many professional specialties - including the law, computer science and medicine - the field of accounting has many terms that are particular to the accounting profession. Although people within the finance and accounting field understand these trade terms, these terms often do not translate easily outside the profession. This is particularly true when accounting documents need to be translated into a foreign language for transnational and cross-border accounting litigation.

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Earlier we blogged about the admissibility of the telephonic expert witness testimony by a foreign language translator/ court interpreter. One key factor in a court’s decision to allow telephonic testimony is whether or not the witness is available. Thus, in order to admit foreign language translator testimony via telephone, a party must sufficiently demonstrate that in fact the foreign language translator/ interpreter is “truly unavailable”.

Continue reading "Determining the Unavailability of Foreign Language Translator/ Interpreter to Provide Expert Witness Testimony in Person- Telephonic Evidence" »

The debate regarding human foreign language translation versus machine-based foreign language translation during foreign language electronic discovery is one that may never be decided. However, one issue that is rarely thrown into the mix is how these two approaches handle translation of mixed language documents, i.e. documents written in more than one foreign language.

Continue reading "Translating Multilingual Language Documents for Litigation Departments and Litigation Case Managers during e-Discovery" »

Depending on the quality of the original, source text, foreign language translations may sometimes be perceived as ambiguous. According to the Law of Contracts, one method for interpreting the terms of an ambiguously written contract is to look at any terms of trade used within the document. This refers to any terminology that has a special meaning within a given trade that is the subject of the contract. However, this can become an even more complicated task when the terms of trade are in a foreign language.

Continue reading "Language Translation and Contract Interpretation: Foreign Language as Trade Use Evidence" »

We've already blogged about foreign language translations in the context of reverse mortgage loans. But when it comes to foreign language translation in the context of real estate transactions, it helps to remember that there are two basic steps in conducting a valid real estate transaction - creating a valid deed and properly filing the deed. More so, each step may be affected when a foreign language real estate deed is involved.

Continue reading "Language Translation, and Validity of Real Estate Transactions Conducted in a Foreign Language" »