Legal Translation Outsourced

Juliette R. Scott

Oxford Studies in Language and Law

Provides the only current reference on commercial legal translation performed outside institutions worldwide
Empirical evidence reveals serious market dysfunctions, dangers and risk, including threats to justice
Proposes an original theoretical model to aid both legal translators and other stakeholders
Demonstrates how briefing can considerably improve the fitness-for-purpose of translated legal texts

Legal Translation Outsourced

Juliette R. Scott

Oxford Studies in Language and Law

Description

As a result of globalization, cross-border transactions and litigation, and multilingual legislation, outsourcing legal translation has become common practice. Unfortunately, over-reliance on such outsourcing has given rise to significant dangers, including information asymmetry, goal divergence, and risk.

Legal Translation Outsourced provides the only current reference on commercial legal translation performed outside institutions. Juliette Scott casts a critical eye on the practice as it now stands, offering an analysis of key risks and constraints. Her work is informed by empirical data of the legal translation outsourcing markets of 41 countries. Scott proposes original theoretical models aimed both at training legal translators and informing all stakeholders, including principals and agents. These include models of legal translation performance; a classification of constraints on legal translation applying upstream, during and downstream of translation work; and a description of the complex chain of supply.

Working to improve the enterprise itself, Scott shows how implementing a comprehensive legal translation brief—a sorely needed template—can significantly benefit clients by increasing the fitness of translated texts. Further, she opens a number of avenues for future research with an eye to translator empowerment and professionalization.

Legal Translation Outsourced

Juliette R. Scott

Oxford Studies in Language and Law

Introduction
Chapter 1 The outsourced legal translation environment
Chapter 2 Facets of legal translation performance
Chapter 3 Constraints on the outsourced legal translation process
Chapter 4 A comprehensive legal translation brief
Chapter 5 A triangulated survey of the outsourcing of legal translations to external practitioners
Conclusion
Afterword

Legal Translation Outsourced

Juliette R. Scott

Oxford Studies in Language and Law

Author Information

Juliette R. Scott, Professional legal translator and independent researcher

Juliette Scott researches externalized legal translation, drawing from a range of intersecting disciplines, to which she brings 30 years' experience as a practitioner in the fields of international financial crime, complex corporate litigation and legislation. She has a particular interest in professionalization, as well as reinforcing links between academia and practice.

Legal Translation Outsourced

Juliette R. Scott

Oxford Studies in Language and Law

Reviews and Awards

"This special book functions as a bridge between practitioners of legal translation and research into language and law with a focus upon legal translation. Unlike much work I have seen with this idea, it lives up to the highest standards of academic research, demonstrating not only insight into a wide range of relevant scholarly work, but also applying these insights to studies and analyses that, in my view, will actually enable bridge-building." - Jan Engberg, Aarhus University

"This book is very impressive and needed: it deals with an issue that seems to have increasingly plagued the practice of translation today. Much of translation activity, especially in professional contexts, is overwhelmingly dependent on outsourcing, where the quality varies enormously, to say the least. An excellent piece of research built on sound evidence from theory and practice, it is an original contribution to the practice of translation." - Vijay Bhatia, Macquarie University