Understanding the Qualifications of a Legal Translator

If you’re seeking a translator to convert several documents from a source language (SL) to a target language (TL), you may wonder why you need a legal translator versus any translator with language proficiency. Language proficiency is a measure of how well a person speaks, reads, and understands another language–so isn’t that all you need as qualifications to be an effective translator? Understanding the qualifications required of a legal translator will illuminate the importance of using their services for important document translation.

Qualifications Required of a Legal Translator

Professional legal translators handle complex and critical documentation. From international business contracts to immigration applications and cross-border wills and testaments, these experts are responsible for ensuring the translated version precisely matches the content and intent of the original. To do this work, professional legal translators must possess:

1. Language proficiency: As a baseline, a legal translator must have the same conversational fluency and language proficiency in the SL and TL. They must understand complex discussions using highly intellectual vocabularies in both languages.
2. Legal expertise: Legal translators must have a broad knowledge of the areas of law or legal work they are translating to ensure that the terms, phrases, stipulations, and intent of the SL document are accurate and valid in the TL document. Ideally, the legal translator doesn’t just have “book knowledge” of the area but has worked in the legal field for a considerable time to gain expertise. Some experts feel a legal translator should have a thorough knowledge of legal terminology and legal reasoning between the source and target legal systems, the ability to analyze legal texts and solve legal problems, and a basic understanding of comparative law and methods.
3. Cultural understanding: In many cases, a legal translator must understand both countries’ cultural norms and customs related to a multi-language project. This knowledge ensures that idioms are correctly translated or used and that the intent of the original is accurately reflected in the translation.

There’s no easy way for an individual to gain the skills and experience to become a legal translator. On the contrary, the best professional legal translators are paralegals or attorneys who have often lived and worked in foreign countries or with communities speaking a second language. Some experts in the translation field feel that a person cannot be adequately qualified until they are between 30 and 50 years of age, simply because of the amount of on-the-job experience required to get the legal elements and the language elements exactly correct.

In addition to these qualifications, a good legal translator will exhibit other characteristics, too. First and foremost, they must have intense attention to detail. Anyone who has dealt with contracts, sales transactions, or other legal work knows the problems that can happen if a small detail is overlooked or a section is omitted. Next, they must use strong project management skills. Estimating the time needed to complete their work and committing to deadlines is essential when legal processes are in the mix.

Certified Translations

You may be asked to obtain a certified translation of specific documents depending on your project. This certification isn’t possible if you use an unqualified translation service.

A certified translation means a statement from the translator is attached to the documentation describing their qualifications to perform the work and attesting to the accuracy of the translation. A translator will need the abovementioned qualifications to be considered sufficiently skilled to perform the job accurately.

The Perfect Translation is Your Best Source for Experienced and Qualified Legal Translators

At The Perfect Translation, we employ a team of translators with legal experience and language proficiency. Whether you or your client is applying for U.S. citizenship or need a history of court records translated, we have professional legal translators with the skills and experience for the job. You don’t need to worry about finding an individual with the right qualifications of a legal translator because we do that for you. All you need to do is contact us to get started. Plus, we’ll give you a free quote for your work.