This page is written for the legal profession. If you need a single document, go to legal translation. Here we deal with what matters to a firm's flow: terminological stability across the whole life of a case, the confidentiality regime, working to a court calendar, and the form of settlement.
The principal difficulty of legal translation is not that the terms are hard. It is that legal systems do not map onto each other exactly: an institution that exists in Georgian law sometimes has no precise analogue in English law. In those places a decision has to be taken consciously rather than accidentally - we mark them and agree them with you.
Which legal documents we translate
Contracts
- Service and employment contracts
- Partnership and shareholder agreements
- Lease, sale and supply contracts
- Licence and franchise agreements
- Annexes, addenda and schedules
Court material
- Claims and defences
- Judgments and rulings
- Motions and applications
- Evidence and expert opinions
- Arbitration material
Corporate and notarial
- Powers of attorney and authority documents
- Articles of association and founders' agreements
- Registry extracts
- Shareholder resolutions and minutes
- Official correspondence and notices
Annexes deserve separate attention. In practice it happens constantly that the contract is translated and the annex is not - and then it turns out that the prices, the deadlines and the technical parameters were in the annex. If a document has annexes, tell us at the outset: they have to be translated together so that the cross-references do not fall apart.
Terminology and the integrity of a case
Our principal rule in legal matters: one case stays with one translator from beginning to end. That slows delivery by a day and in exchange it removes the situation where the claim uses one term, the defence another and the translated evidence a third. In a case running for months that is decisive.
A firm is given a terminology base recording the parties' official names in every working language, the names of courts and authorities, case numbers and their format, the legal institutions on which you have taken a decision, and the firm's own stylistic preferences.
Where systems do not correspond we use a practical approach: if no exact equivalent exists, we either use a descriptive formulation or keep the original term in brackets, depending on what the document is for. That choice is agreed with you on the first case and then applies automatically.
The full quality-control process is described under quality control. On a legal document the editing stage is compulsory rather than optional.
Confidentiality in legal documents
A legal document almost always contains personal, commercial, financial or judicial information whose disclosure harms your client's interest. Access during the work is therefore strictly limited.
The regime
- Access only for those working on the case
- One translator and one editor per case
- Extra copies kept to a minimum
- File deleted on request
Documented guarantees
- NDA on your form or ours
- The base obligation applies without a contract too
- Confidentiality obligation on every translator
- Full policy: confidentiality
What we do not do
- We do not send documents to AI systems
- We do not use a case as a reference or a sample
- We do not share data with third parties
- We do not keep copies in personal archives
Interpreting in court and at the notary
Alongside written translation an interpreter is frequently needed: at a court hearing, when a transaction is executed before a notary, at a questioning, in negotiations or in a consultation with a foreign client.
Our practice is that the interpreter is the same person who worked on the written part of the case. That matters particularly in court: the interpreter already knows the terminology of the case, the parties' names and the context, so no pauses occur at the hearing to clarify a term.
An interpreter has to be booked in advance - preferably at least one working day, and earlier for complex matters so that the material can be reviewed. Detail under interpreting.
Documents ready for official use
Where required, a legal document is prepared for notarization, or for submission to an embassy, a court, a state authority or abroad. Each of those wants a different form, and we agree that form with you before the work starts.
Available: notarization, the certified form for Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions, apostille preparation, and, where a country is not party to the Hague Convention, arranging consular legalization.
Delivery is an electronic file, a print carrying the bureau stamp, or notarized paper brought to your office by courier.
How we start working together
The first case and its terminology
On the first case we agree the basic terminological choices: party names, equivalents for legal institutions, stylistic preferences. That base then applies to every later case.
NDA and contract
If your regulations require it we sign an NDA. The B2B contract fixes the rates, the deadline format, the conditions for urgent work and the settlement arrangement.
One point of contact
The firm is assigned one manager who knows all your matters. You no longer have to re-explain the context, and you get answers on deadlines directly.
Invoicing and repeat orders
Instead of formalising each order separately, one consolidated monthly invoice listing the work performed. Details under legal information.
Price, deadlines and urgent work
The price is agreed after the material is seen. A legal text costs more than a general one because it compulsorily passes the editing stage and a terminology check. In continuing cooperation the price falls, because the firm's terminology base and recurring formulations speed the work up.
Deadlines are fitted to the court calendar rather than the other way round. If you have a hearing or a filing deadline on a particular day, write it in the first message and the order will be planned to that date. Urgent handling is a separate surcharge, applied only at your request and visible in the quote in advance.
Large matters are delivered in stages: you do not wait until a hundred pages are finished. We agree which part you need first and deliver in that order.
Need a legal document translated or an interpreter at a hearing? Send us the document and the filing deadline - you will get the price, the turnaround and the required form of certification.
Call: 501 113 200Frequently asked questions
Can we work under NDA conditions?
Yes, on your form or ours. The base confidentiality obligation applies without a contract as well and binds every translator, but on legal and corporate documents a separate NDA is common practice and a standard procedure for us.
Will the same translator work on my case?
Yes, that is our rule in legal matters. One case stays with one translator from beginning to end so that terminology and party names do not drift. If the case also needs an interpreter, it is preferably the same person, who already knows the context.
A Georgian term has no exact English equivalent. What do you do?
We mark those places and agree them with you rather than choosing arbitrarily. Two approaches exist: a descriptive formulation that conveys the institution's substance, or keeping the original term in brackets with an explanation. Which is better depends on who reads the document. Once agreed, the choice applies to every later case.
Can you arrange notarization?
Yes. Where required, the translation of a legal document is prepared for notarization, in certified form, or for an apostille. Which you need depends on where the document will be submitted, and that is settled before the work begins.
The hearing is tomorrow and the evidence arrived today. Can you manage?
Call 501 113 200 and say the time of the hearing. A document of a few pages arriving during working hours is normally ready the same day with the bureau stamp. If notarization is required that depends on the notary's schedule, so material arriving in the morning fits far better than material arriving in the evening.
Do you serve law firms on a regular basis?
Yes. Regular B2B cooperation, repeat orders, a firm terminology base, a single point of contact, invoicing and one consolidated monthly invoice - that is the standard format for firms with a constant flow.
It is a large case, hundreds of pages. How do we manage it?
In stages. First we agree the terminology on a small portion, you approve it, then the main volume is completed with the approved glossary. Delivery is staged too - we agree which part you need first. That prevents the situation where, after a hundred pages, one term has to be changed everywhere.