5 Legal Translation Mistakes You Should Avoid

We live in the times when an increasing number of businesses decide to go global. For this purpose, they frequently need professional legal translation services that allow them to make international arrangements and stay on the safe side. What are five legal translation mistakes you should avoid at all costs? Keep reading!
Legal translation mistakes to watch out for
1.Relying solely on machine translation
Although the technology is developing at a rapid pace, legal translation is a field that requires double-checking and enormous expertise. Relying solely on machine translation can be a costly mistake. Even though tools like Google Translate make it possible to get the general meaning of the text, they still have problems with translating more complex terms like legalese.
2.Choosing companies without appropriate expertise
The knowledge of the source and target language isn’t enough to produce a quality translation. There are numerous types of legal translation, and each of them is slightly different and requires various skills. Therefore, when choosing a company to cooperate with, make sure that available specialists have expertise in fields that are important to you.
3.Translating content literally
Translators without adequate experience frequently fall into the trap of literal translation. This can be very dangerous, as certain words and phrases are the so-called false cognates, which means that literal translation has a completely different sense. When searching for a legal translation service provider, go for companies that employ experienced specialists.
4.Underestimating the importance of translation
Planning the entire translation process well in advance can help you save a lot of money and minimize costs. If you create content that needs to be translated, keep it simple and avoid ambiguous phrases to make the translation project easier.
5.Not considering future activities
When going international or entering a specific market, most businesses require multiple legal translations. By planning your strategy, you can ensure that all your documents are translated in a professional, consistent way. Moreover, starting a long-term cooperation with the agency often means minimized costs, as in this case professionals can benefit from translation memories – special databases that automatically suggest how to translate specific chunks if they’ve been used before.

The takeaway
Legal translation is a complex field, therefore, when looking for specialists to cooperate with, it’s worth verifying their expertise and asking them about the abovementioned aspects to minimize the chances of choosing an unreliable service provider.