How to translate de una parte and de otra parte into English (contract translation tip 9)
How should you translate into English the terms de una parte and de otra parte that you find at the start of Spanish contracts?...
How to translate the start of a Spanish contract into English
Translating the introductory clauses of Spanish contracts into English can be confusing — a bit like trying to fit square pegs into round holes,...
Using models for translating contracts (quick tip 9)
Translating a document requires knowing what it looks like in the target language, especially in a format-heavy genre like contracts. And knowing what the...
Lexacom Skype course
A few weeks back, I did one of David Hutchins’s courses for legal translators. David is a solicitor who gives law courses of all...
Resources for translating contracts (6): some tips for improving Spanish-to-English legal translation
This straight-to-the-point paper by Daniel Kaplan has some useful tips for translating contracts. 1. False friends Kaplan points out a couple of false friends...
Quick tip for translating contracts (7): mainly call contracts agreements
When translating a contract, it can be surprisingly difficult to work out what to call it in English. You’d think that would be easy...
Quick tip for translating contracts (6): don’t use word–numeral doublets
Just about any contract drafting or legal style guide you pick up will tell you to avoid using word–numeral doublets: E.g., instead of: He...
Quick tip for translating contracts (5): build a clause library
Firstly, what is a clause library? Basically just a place (e.g., an Excel file) where you can store your preferred translations for typical clauses...
Quick tip for translating contracts (4): distinguish between formulaic language and contract information
Distinguishing between formulaic language and contract information is, I believe, the key to translating contracts and other formal legal documents. The only thing that...
Resources for translating contracts (5): Legal Writing in Plain English
Bryan Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has some excellent tips for legal writing and writing general. It’s not about any one type of...
Quick tip for translating contracts (3): what tense where
In Basic Legal Drafting, Anne Rutledge makes a useful distinction between promissory and descriptive language: A promissory statement is one that “articulates a promise”...
Resources for translating contracts (4): Basic Legal Drafting
Basic Legal Drafting by Anne Rutledge covers three areas of legal drafting: litigation documents, contracts and legislative documents. I went straight for what interests...
Quick tip for translating contracts (2): don’t use “undertakes to”
According to Tiffany Kemp in her book Essential Contract Drafting Skills (spoken about here), we shouldn’t use “undertakes to” because it’s legalese with no...
Resources for translating contracts (3): Essential Contract Drafting Skills
Here’s another useful resource for translating contracts: Essential Contract Drafting Skills — a Practical Guide by Tiffany Kemp It’s a short book (doesn’t have...
Resources for translating contracts (2): the mother-of-all contract drafting books: MSCD
“Mother-of-all” might be an overstatement, as I’m sure there are other thick books out there on how to draft contracts in English, but this...
Quick tip for translating contracts (1): name the parties more often in English (and a point on ambiguity)
As noted in this resource I mentioned here the other day, Spanish contracts tend to use pronouns where English usually just repeats the party...
Resources for translating contracts (1): La traducción de los contratos
Here’s an excellent resource (in Spanish) on translating contracts from Spanish to English and vice versa: La traducción de los contratos (inglés – castellano...
