| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | Law degree wise investment for prospective legal translator? Thread poster: travcurrit
|
|---|
Ty Kendall 
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:55
Hebrew to English
| Not just linguists | Apr 29, 2013 |
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz wrote:
The other problem is the consequences of linguists' frequent distaste with legal language, and attempts to fix it.
I can't speak for other languages, but the Plain English Campaign has got a fair bit of momentum and people (linguists and non-linguists alike) tend to subscribe to their agenda and generally agree with/are sympathetic to their proposals.
Moreover, whenever I read a blog eschewing the use of archaic legalese in favour of plain, simple language, it is invariably written by a practising lawyer.
| | | | | More on plain language | May 1, 2013 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz wrote:
The other problem is the consequences of linguists' frequent distaste with legal language, and attempts to fix it.
I can't speak for other languages, but the Plain English Campaign has got a fair bit of momentum and people (linguists and non-linguists alike) tend to subscribe to their agenda and generally agree with/are sympathetic to their proposals.
Moreover, whenever I read a blog eschewing the use of archaic legalese in favour of plain, simple language, it is invariably written by a practising lawyer.
Lawyers are sometimes onboard too. You see, I have no problem with contractions, gonnas, gottas, haftas or ain'ts in legal contracts and other legal documents. Once upon a time I wrote a motion on the unwritten side of a proof of payment of filing fee. I can write an entire contract without using "shall" once (or actually without a single actual legal term if I really feel like joking around). And I'm dying to use "IMHO" in a memo or "LOL" in a courtroom. That's gonna be the fun of my lifetime.
What I'm speaking against, though, is the use of artificial bland indicatives that 1) kill all emphasis or shades of meaning (forget register), 2) deprive the text of any beauty, 3) don't sound like real English after all, and 4) fail to convey accurately the intention of the parties (where #3 and #4 also mean the "plain" is not achieved by the language). It's already bad enough when the original drafter does all that but when the translator de factor edits a proper legal document in such a way without having specific instructions to that effect, then that's a completely different cup of fish. When I teach translators, I always tell them to use whatever register and mood the source did unless there's a cultural difference in the level of formality and there are good functional equivalents at hand (after all, "comes now to move" and "as aforesaid" will probably be modernised in the course of translation into continental languages).
This said, I will grant you that people who can't write properly in an archaic or formal register probably shouldn't be doing it at all.
| | | | | Study or experience essential | Jul 17, 2013 |
Even if not a full-blown degree, enough study or experience is essential in order to grasp adequately the purposes of the text, and the full import of the words and phrases of which it is composed. At least a postgraduate diploma, or a paralegal qualification would be helpful. Alternatively, people who have worked for some years in a legal organization are often able to produce satisfactory translations.
| | | | Jeffrey Henson
France
Local time: 09:55
Member (2015)
French to English
| Paralegal certificate as a gateway to legal translation ? | Apr 22, 2015 |
Hi all.
I realise that this thread is quite old at this point, but I have found it very enlightening as I hope to specialize in legal translation. As a starting point, I am considering doing the following on-line courses:
Paralegal Certificate Course
http://www.legalstudies.com/courses/paralegal.html
and
Advanced paralegal Certificate<... See more Hi all.
I realise that this thread is quite old at this point, but I have found it very enlightening as I hope to specialize in legal translation. As a starting point, I am considering doing the following on-line courses:
Paralegal Certificate Course
http://www.legalstudies.com/courses/paralegal.html
and
Advanced paralegal Certificate
http://www.legalstudies.com/courses/advancedparalegal.html
I feel that these courses will give me a good base of knowledge in legal terminology and understanding of the US legal system without having to go for a full law degree, the price of which, as many have pointed out, would be quite prohibitive in the US.
The first certificate can be completed in 14 weeks and costs $1289 + about $500 in books. The second takes a few months, so a bit longer. The cost is $1800 plus books. All in all I think this is quite an affordable alternative if your goal is really translation and not practicing law.
I'd be interested in hearing opinions of anyone who has taken or even looked at these courses.
Best regards ! ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Heather Walker (X)
United States
Local time: 02:55
German to English
+ ...
| Getting a Law Degree | Apr 23, 2015 |
I am a very new translator, so I will not comment on everything it takes to create an excellent legal translation. What I would like to say is this:
For anyone who is interested in the studying law in the U.S., I would like to point out that many law schools are currently offering scholarships. With a decent undergraduate GPA and LSAT score, an applicant can sometimes even get a full-tuition scholarship.
Of course, a huge time investment is required in order to get ... See more I am a very new translator, so I will not comment on everything it takes to create an excellent legal translation. What I would like to say is this:
For anyone who is interested in the studying law in the U.S., I would like to point out that many law schools are currently offering scholarships. With a decent undergraduate GPA and LSAT score, an applicant can sometimes even get a full-tuition scholarship.
Of course, a huge time investment is required in order to get a law degree. However, I believe that a huge time investment is exactly what it takes to learn the law.
Some have said that one doesn't need to know the law in order to translate the law. I would respond that some translators probably don't know that they don't understand the legal concepts behind certain terms of art because they don't know that these concepts exist. These terms are almost like idioms because they lose their meaning when they are translated literally.
This is one problem that could occur when a translator does not have a legal education: Let’s say that a translator translates one clause of a contract literally, and the legal concept is not conveyed clearly into the target language. The end client signs the contract, and later a dispute arises concerning that clause. This dispute is eventually arbitrated, costing the end client thousands of dollars in legal fees, in addition to a substantial arbitration award.
This is a very bad outcome for the end client, but this outcome may be so far removed in time from the actual translation that it may never come back to bite the translator or agency. It could take many years for a contract dispute to arise, and many more years before arbitration occurs. The question, I would say, might be more one of ethics and professionalism than of actual practicality. Even if a law degree would not get a translator more jobs or a higher rate, I do think it could enable the translator to offer better translations for the end client, which is a big deal.
This reminds me of estate planning, which many lawyers dabble in, without learning the necessary legal concepts. Most lawyers think that they can dabble in this field because they do not know that there are many intricacies of estate planning and tax law that they are unaware of. These lawyers make estate plans for their clients, who often pass away many years later. When an estate plan is litigated or the estate is taxed excessively, the attorney is often not aware of it because he is retired by that time, or because the heirs do not contact him about the issue, or because he does not know enough about this area of law to realize that he could have gotten a better outcome for the client. Obtaining the requisite estate planning knowledge does not pay off practically (in terms dollars and cents) for these lawyers, because many clients do not know which lawyers are capable of providing excellent estate plans. Regardless of the fact, however, that there may never be any negative consequences associated with dabbling in this area of law, I would still advise any attorney to really learn everything they need to know and stay up to date with case law and IRS regulations if they want to provide the best services to their clients. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not necessarily! (Really!) | Jul 17, 2015 |
MiaInWonderland wrote:
I'm not talking about lawyers ('cause you must have a certification for that qualification) but people who have a law degree and want to work in the translation field.
First of all, when you say "not lawyers but people who own a law degree..." makes me puzzled. Actually, people who own a law degree have necessarily finished their law studies and are lawyers/jurists (BA in Law) who may decide to further exercise a career as a lawyer (and for that passing their regional lawyers council exam and having a licence to practice the profession) or not. But in both cases, nobody can take away the title they have acquired via their law studies.
I am a Lawyer-Linguist myself (first active lawyer, then a translator) and I can assure you that a law degree is not mandatory for a translator who wishes to deal with legal translations aiming to specialize in legal fields!
To accomplish university law studies and get a law degree in your hands you need lots of availability and time (about 5-6 years of law study, only for the bachelor's!), a heavy agenda with homework, works, class tasks, trials presence, case studies practices, obligatory professional stages, a full library of law books, lots of dedication, training sessions, patience, even some skills.... (I could continue here with many other less appealing factors...) and, of course, money (lots of money for any law university). And all that to don't exercise the profession itself, and just be "more prepared" to be a legal translator?? This is absolutely crazy, in my opinion.
You can easily get around any problem of knowledge, terminology and/or lack of experience reading lots of law articles, subscribing law reviews, reading books of legal fields of your interest, attending webinars for legal translators, attending online law formations for non-jurists and so on... You don't need to become a BA in Law to be capable to translate legal texts with good quality or even high-quality results. Specially not in the actual translation industry where diplomas don't really count anymore, only prices and quotes and references... (actually, the translation profession itself is not yet statutory and doesn't formally require a certificate). Specially nowadays where lots of available information on internet can help any translator to acquire terminology, vocabulary and experience.
Most of lawyers who are also translators like me, became professional translators after being already active professional attorneys before, for different reasons. And the big majority of (high-quality) legal translators I know (and believe me, some of them are really, really good) had never ever put their feet in a law university in their lives.
philgoddard wrote:
...but getting a law degree just to become a legal translator would be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Absolutely agree with philgoddard, and answering your question Travicurrit, in a couple of words:
No, I can tell you that such big investment may be such a big error and unnecessary investment.
[Edited at 2015-07-17 01:58 GMT]
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Law degree wise investment for prospective legal translator? | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
