Just recently, a federal court trial in Miami with orders by Judge Ursula Ungaro and Magistrate Judge Otazo-Reyes proved to be an embarrassing reprimand of the defense attorneys.
The orders told the attorneys that they had to file exhibit reports in English in the U.S. court system and not Spanish. They had the U.S. federal court’s command for foreign-language reports to be translated to English. A expert legal translator understands these rules thoroughly and can assist attorneys in avoiding these kinds of situations.
This trial and many others unveil the critical need for precise translations by qualified translators in the proper format. How do law firms find solutions for this standard of unimpeachable accuracy?
Legal Translations Require Expertise
The most necessary condition to seek out legal interpretation services such as the ones provided by us at Atlas Language Services, Inc. is the capacity to handle translations concerning legal terminology. It’s one thing to translate from one language to another with literal interpretations.
It’s a whole different task to perform translations over one language’s legal phrases into the correct legal language in English while being acceptable to English-speaking juries. This distinction can’t be emphasized enough. Going from literal to legal conversions requires an entirely different level of expertise, knowledge and ability.
There’s No Room For Mistakes
When interpreting legal terms, there’s no room to make mistakes. You do not have the flexibility or latitude to apply an “almost-correct” phrase. The language has to be the exact translation of a legal word in one language to the corresponding legal term in a different language.
That is the reason it’s critical the legal translator you choose utilizes proofreaders who also provide attorneys to help with the “last layer of defense” on errors that would severely undermine a legal trial. With their background in law school and real-world lawyers, such attorneys will have honed their craft of the arcane legal language demanded by courts of law.
Overall, an experienced translation agency acknowledges that legal nuances are there based on geography, culture, dialect and more. They’ll draw on that expertise to present the required precision.
Carry out your due diligence when it comes to picking a translation service with the same steadfast professionalism you would in any other area and your law firm is well on its way towards gaining more clients and winning additional cross-border conflicts.