Define the scope first
Translation for agreements, corporate governance, legal correspondence and dispute-related documents, with consistent parties, definitions and references.
Tell us the target language, purpose, receiving audience and desired timing. Related files for the same matter can share a contact, spellings, terminology and delivery plan; main text, attachments and supplementary records are checked separately.
Working with the relationships that make clauses operate
Business and legal texts often turn on definitions, references and exceptions. Translation should clarify who does what under which conditions and allow readers to locate the relevant schedule or correspondence.
Defined terms and party roles
Distinguish contracting entities, affiliates, representatives and recipients before checking full names, short forms and pronouns against definitions. Capitalized terms, schedule-specific labels and ordinary words may differ in meaning. Preserve those distinctions and historical names at the relevant document date.
Obligations, conditions and exceptions
Check performance duties, triggers, notice requirements and exceptions separately, preserving the function of prohibitions, permissions and obligations. Reorder difficult sentences where helpful without narrowing conditions. Check what cross-references actually point to, not merely whether their numbers match.
Tone in correspondence and dispute records
Retain speakers, dates, quotations and uncertainty in emails, letters and minutes. Distinguish another party’s view, recorded events and proposed action; a suggestion is not an agreement. Locate extracts within their sources rather than assemble fragments into a position the record never states.
Keeping revisions and specialist decisions traceable
Translations may support negotiation, discussion or signing preparation, each with a different status. Delivery should distinguish language choices, source questions and substantive client decisions.
Definitions and source records
Maintain term and entity records with source clauses, applicable schedules and approved forms. Flag differences in older contracts or company files before choosing a term. Keep exceptions when several documents share a termbase so local definitions are not overwritten by project-wide preferences.
Tracked and clean copies
Agree tracked, clean and bilingual copies as needed, each tied to a source version. After a clause changes, check effects on schedules, definitions and references. A clean copy only omits visible revision marks; it does not prove that every business or legal question has been resolved.
Assigning and closing queries
Classify queries as names, missing facts, clause meanings or wording, with source locations and possible readings. Record approved choices and affected files. A deadline does not justify deleting open questions; if ambiguity is intentionally retained, do not force a definite interpretation.
Materials and content
Contracts
Identify the main agreement, schedules, corporate records and correspondence, and establish the source version.
Corporate records
Keep party names, defined terms, clause numbers and cross-references consistent, including conditions, obligations and exceptions.
Dispute materials
Refer source questions to the designated reviewer and maintain a clear record of language decisions and revisions.
Translation and review priorities
- Identify the main agreement, schedules, corporate records and correspondence, and establish the source version.
- Keep party names, defined terms, clause numbers and cross-references consistent, including conditions, obligations and exceptions.
- Refer source questions to the designated reviewer and maintain a clear record of language decisions and revisions.
Delivery, price and timing
Price and timing are assessed against language direction, word or page volume, subject matter, source clarity, editability, layout, review and supporting requirements. Changes to the source, languages or supporting work require a revised scope and plan.
Agree Word, PDF, Excel, subtitle or other formats, including any editable files, paper copies, statements or signatures actually needed. Supporting arrangements are defined for the particular purpose and receiving requirements.
A clear process at every stage
- 01
Define the purpose
Specify files, languages, volume, receiving requirements and timing.
- 02
Agree the plan
Confirm scope, references, review responsibilities, supporting work and delivery.
- 03
Translate and review
Use subject references and check terms, numbers, tables and versions.
- 04
Deliver and coordinate
Deliver the agreed files, consolidate feedback and confirm later updates.
What should I prepare?
Provide a clear, complete source and relevant references. Include approved translations, required terms or name spellings where available. Share special receiving formats, statement or signature requirements and other supporting needs for individual confirmation.
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Confirm the project details
Can only the clauses relevant to us be translated?
An extract can be scoped after checking definitions, references and schedules needed for context. Identify translated and omitted sections and retain conditions and exceptions that affect meaning. Removing other parties or linked clauses must not alter the apparent rights or obligations.
Can ambiguous counterparty wording be clarified in our preferred way?
Preserve the source-supported meaning and identify ambiguity with possible readings. A negotiated redraft needs revised source wording confirmed by the client or a separate drafting scope. Do not present one party’s unconfirmed interpretation as an explicit term of the original.
If a few source sentences change before signing, is replacement enough?
Check effects on definitions, amounts, notice details and references. Isolated changes may be handled incrementally with a version reference; linked schedules or terms need corresponding checks. Use the complete latest draft rather than assemble a signing translation from different discussion copies.