The role of language services in law firms

Stuart Gibbons 

In an increasingly globalised sector with countless international firms and a plethora of cross-border transactions executed every day, it is hard to put a price on having access to reliable versions of the same document in different languages and a service which ensures the quality of all output in non-native tongues.

Not every law firm is able to boast its own language services department or even have an in-house translator on the books. In a world where conveying the correct message is crucial, given the consequences of getting it wrong in a legally-binding text, the benefit of having access to a team dedicated to providing these services – one which knows the firm and its clients well, not to mention its style guide, practice areas and preferred terminology – cannot be overlooked. What's more, belonging to the same firm means that the author of the source text requesting the translation (usually a lawyer with specialist knowledge on the subject at hand) is within easier reach to clear up any confusion.

The RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) defines the word translation as the "action and effect of translation", but what does that actually mean? Essentially, it involves transposing a written text from one language to another without straying from the meaning of the original piece, albeit without necessarily doing so on a word-for-word basis. In order to be deemed accurate and correct, a translated text should give the impression of original work as opposed to being taken from somewhere else. In other words, the native-speaking reader of the translated text should not be able to notice that it is not in fact the source piece. This affords the translator the opportunity to be creative, hence why the RAE also defines translation as "the work of a translator". As professionals, we treat our documents as if they were our own works of art, putting a certain spin on them to align more to the target language patter. In addition to the two definitions mentioned above, the third explanation for the word translation is the "interpretation given to a text". Again, this paves the way for a degree of creativity allowing the translator to change the word order and structure of the text, as long as they remain faithful to the author's intended message. The ability to carry out this work stems from the specific training translators undertake during their studies.

Those who work for law firms providing language-based services are not only there to translate written texts. Beyond that, they might also interpret in court or in meetings for witnesses or clients who do not speak the local language, give training sessions to lawyers and staff to bolster their command of legal jargon and explain common pitfalls, and get involved in recruitment – for example, interviewing, designing and marking written tests in other languages, etc. – to ensure that candidates wishing to join the firm are at the required level. A further benefit of having in-house professionals is their availability to swiftly respond to ad hoc language-related queries. All of this helps towards at least boosting the visibility and growth of language services in an arena where the provision of legal advice will of course always be number one.

When the need arises to outsource a document for translation, whether due to a lack of internal availability or because the requested language combination is not covered in house – among other reasons –, the language services department serves to build and maintain a relationship with trusted translation agencies or freelancers. The management of such relationship and tracking of an outsourced project from beginning to end by the language services department frees the lawyers from having to do so and enables them to concentrate on their clients. There is no questioning the fact that deep-rooted knowledge of the language industry makes it easier to define the criteria used to select external collaborators, including the speed of response, availability outside of normal working hours and, in particular, the price to quality ratio.

What type of profile should a language professional working at a law firm have? Given the demands of legal documents as specialist translations, this question certainly provides food for thought. Is it paramount for them to have a law degree? Clearly, translating a shares purchase agreement, with all its nuances and complex clauses, is not the same and requires much more technical knowledge than a basic text such as a short email. At the end of the day, care must be taken not to distort the message in any way. We often hear of lawyer-linguists, i.e. those who have studied both law and translation, and there are also many law students who decide not to be sworn into the bar, instead preferring to do something closely related. Despite being an obvious advantage, in reality there is no specific requirement to have experience or be an expert in the legal sector to begin working as a translator at a law firm. However, in order to prosper in this realm with no legal background, certain prerequisites must be met: to have studied translation, of course, to be interested in law, to have a willingness to read and research thoroughly into each topic – in other words, to be flexible, especially given the distinct likelihood that translation requests could come from each and every one of the firm's practice areas –, and lastly, to have the ability to pick things up quickly. In firms which provide legal training to staff, these sessions also go a long way towards enhancing our understanding of legal texts.

Regardless of whether a firm employs in-house translators or not – and especially in the latter case –, it sometimes falls on the lawyers to do translations. So, what do they need to bear in mind when translating? Broadly speaking, the level of foreign languages, especially English, is fairly high in Spain-based firms given that it usually forms part of their candidate search and due to the opportunities law students have to study abroad under the Erasmus programme, etc. However, as already explained, speaking a language well does not automatically mean an ability to translate. In fact, producing a polished translation requires the capacity to think like a translator, knowledge of how to make the most out of the resources at their disposal, including dictionaries and reliable websites, and being able to differentiate between what looks a bit off and what sounds more natural in the target language. Lawyers are able to develop these skills with practice and daily exposure to overseas clients, most notably in international firms. Although it is true that inverse translations into a second or even third language are great practice, the resulting text should always be proofread by a native-speaking language professional before being sent to the client.

To conclude, there is no denying that safeguarding reputation is a pivotal factor for law firms when capturing and maintaining clients. While their image mainly hinges on the quality of their legal advice and the lawyers' ability to come up with innovative solutions to client issues, the existence of support services such as language-based provisions – in addition to others such as HR, IT, knowledge management and marketing, etc. –, represents significant added value and enables firms to set themselves apart from their competitors.