Interview with Steven M. Kahaner - Executive Director (Juriscribe / USA)

It can be difficult to obtain accurate translations of sophisticated legal documents, which can mean significant amounts of attorney time and effort is spent doing corrections, according to Steven M. Kahaner from Juriscribe. 

Leaders League. What problems can poor legal translations cause?

This all depends on the context. In contracts, a poor translation can lead to misunderstandings between the parties and even to potential litigation. In a corporate context, a poor translation can lead to embarrassment due to the publication of faulty documents and to increased scrutiny by shareholder advocacy groups and ratings organizations. Meanwhile, in litigation, a poor translation can lead to challenges by the other party and can even affect the outcome of a case.

What was the motivation for starting your own translation company?

While working as an associate at some of the larger law firms in New York City, I noticed that it was quite difficult to obtain accurate translations of sophisticated legal documents, which meant significant amounts of attorney time and effort were spent doing corrections. I ultimately realized that there was a gap in the market, which could be filled by bilingual and multilingual lawyers specializing in translation.

What is the advantage of lawyers doing the translations?

Translators of sophisticated legal documents must act as legal comparativists. They must be familiar with the legal ‘orders’ (a highly particularized local form of discourse that includes a country’s legal system, legal traditions, cultures and history) in the country where the document originates and as well as in the country for which the translation is intended, thus deconstructing and decoding the source text and then reconstructing its meaning in the target text. The translator must be part linguist, part legal scholar and part detective. They must be willing and able to search out and define legal concepts expressed in the source language of a document. Very few non-lawyers are able to meet these requirements.

Who are your clients and how do your services benefit them?

Our clients primarily consist of law firms and the legal, compliance and investor relations departments of publicly-traded companies. Although their internal lawyers are the ones who are most familiar with the text in question, and may have the linguistic skills required to properly prepare their translations, the opportunity cost of dedicating such high-value staff to the work of translation (or correcting poor translations) is quite high. Our clients trust sensitive high-value documents to us because they are confident that the work will be performed quickly, confidentially, and with publication-ready quality.