What Is Legal Translation? Who Does It?
There is a common misconception that legal translation is simply the practice of looking up each word in…
ESL Law Practice is Broken. Can Translators Fix It?
Clients seeking legal services in China can generally expect to either receive counsel in broken English or advice…
Translating Legal Memos Intelligibly
Legal translation is known for its emphasis on so-called literalness, but in the case of legal memoranda, this…
How Translation killed the China Initiative
The China Initiative ended in 2022 as a result of accusations that the program prosecuted innocent people and…
Foreign Counsel vs. Lawyer Linguists in China
The emergence of the Lawyer-Linguist profession offers a good solution to the shortage of native English-speaking foreign counsel…
How anchoring bias affects legal translation
The legal translation industry is currently grappling with a cognitive bias known as anchoring bias. This phenomenon has…
Severance Provisions Tell Us About Legal Translation
In the hit fictional television show Severance, American corporate workers have their brains severed so that their work…
Confusion around Chinese contract localization
I’ve often had legal clients come to me for translation work, only to realize after an initial consultation…
Translating Hard Chinese Legal Concepts Using Perdurantism
A concept known as perdurantism can help clear up a lot of translation-driven disputes about how to characterize…
How Overconfidence Fuels Legal Translation Service Malpractice
Legal translators often exhibit overconfidence usually associated with superheroes, which ultimately leads to severe mistakes that border on…