Translizer for Law Firms

Legal translations have grown to be one of the largest segments of the translation industry and Translizer is well positioned to support law firms everywhere to get the translation support they need.

Law firms need much more than just a legal translation company. As populations move across borders, everyday legal matters become multi-lingual. You need to translate passports, statements, financial documents, contracts, medical reports and the list goes on. One translator cannot possibly have the required expertise to know all of these specialist areas – you will either need to manage multiple vendors on your own or have Translizer do it for you.

Certified, sworn and notarized translations

It is not enough that the text is translated. Legal translations will often need to be certified to fully conform to the requirements of the jurisdiction in which they are presented. Translizer can certify translations made by any of our vendors by issuing a Notarized Certificate of Translation. This certification makes the translation conform to the stipulations of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 and thus it is an official translation in all 97 signatory countries. Some jurisdictions have different requirements and we can advise you on what you need. Translizer employs an in-house Notary Public who specialises in certifying translations for official use.

Case study: Laura Dale & Associates

Laura Dales & Associates is a family law firm in Houston, Texas. They represent clients from around the globe and their practice includes a strong focus on international family law issues and Hague actions to address international child abduction complaints and a variety of multijurisdictional issues. The attorneys at Laura Dale & Associates have multiple translation projects on the go at any given time and they need an efficient tool to manage and monitor this critical aspect of their work. Upon hearing of Translizer, they jumped at the chance to implement it into their case preparation process and they’ve never looked back.

“My law firm is extremely pleased with the services provided by Translizer. With only 24-hours notice, a Translizer legal vendor translated a 50 page decree from English to French. Within 3 days my firm had delivered a notarized, certified translation of the decree to the appellate court in France. Their services were efficient and cost effective. I highly recommend their services.”

Laura D. Dale, Attorney at Law, Partner at Laura Dale & Associates

Translizer is so easy to use that it requires no lengthy and expensive user training and because it can be accessed by any web browser, the implementation is fast and free.

Other clear benefits include the organisation, clarity and time saving provided by Translizer. Previously paralegals had to contact translation companies by telephone or e-mail, send the documents in for quotation purposes and wait for a response. Translizer is instant and secure. Files are only seen by the chosen translation vendor and because Translizer works in real-time, it now takes paralegals less than 2 minutes to do what took 24-48 hours before Translizer.

Recovering your translation costs

Translating a lot of text and getting court interpreters involved can be a high value undertaking often costing in the tens of thousands. Your opposing legal team may object to these costs so you must ensure your costs can be defended against scrutiny. In January 2011, one Translizer client successfully had such an objection overruled in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas and the court ruled that the translation costs "were reasonably and necessarily incurred and adequately documented." The court also overruled an objection about translating documents that had "not been introduced into evidence."

Because Translizer translations always undergo a price comparison cycle for every project, it is easy to justify the translation spend. Of course, the attorney must know what documents should be translated and what should not, but the actual translation spend with Translizer is so well documented and justified that no court will entertain any suggestion that the spend with Translizer would be anything but reasonable.

Setup and support

Translizer is easily accessible via the internet. Our in-house team is here to help you get started and we’ll be with you every step of the way to ensure your translation experience is as easy as possible.