Translation For Lawyers

Online Legal Translations for Arbitral Panels and International Tribunals

Thu, 17 May 2012 07:26:37 -0700

We've blogged about multilingual legal translation services of foreign-language evidence in the context of in the context of international litigation. 28 USC § 1782 - Assistance to foreign and international tribunals and to litigants before such tribunals- authorizes federal courts to order discovery in aid of proceedings before foreign courts and international tribunals.

However, the question of what constitutes an international tribunal is anything but straightforward.

The key case on this topic, Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., did little to add any clarity. In this case, the Supreme Court appears to support a broad interpretation that would encompass arbitral tribunals, which act as 'first-instance decision-makers' that render 'dispositive rulings' subject to limited national court review.

However, federal courts have struggled to apply this standard to the context of international arbitration. A majority have concluded that arbitral tribunals established by private contract are 'foreign or international tribunals'. This is an essential finding as it determines not only jurisdiction and applicable laws but, perhaps more importantly, possible outcomes - all of which have ramifications that should be addressed prior to entering into a private contract.

When the contract is between foreign entities, then the intent of the parties must first be determined via a foreign language translation. Contact our legal translation company to obtain certified translations of arbitration and tribunal documents.

International Legal Translation Services, Expatriation and Tax Law

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:29:26 -0700

We've blogged about international financial translations in the context of international tax sheltering. The US Treasury Department recently released the latest listing of names of individuals who renounced their US citizenship or terminated their long-term US residency (expatriated). Overall, the trend continues to show an increasing number of individuals taking this route in order to better shelter their income and capital from the US taxes. This is particularly true as the US is the only country besides North Korea that requires non-residents to file US tax returns on income earned outside the US.

According to IRS figures, five to seven million US citizens reside abroad - many of them have never lived in or expect to live in the US. For example, a Canadian born to two US citizen parents in Canada is a US citizen and, although never living in the US, still must file tax returns in the US for his entire working life. Failing to file can lead to huge penalties.

Yet because of the complexity of the US tax system, even just filing can be quite costly - particularly when reporting foreign income which requires a foreign language translation. And to make things even more complicated, because of the IRS's focus on offshore accounts, US expatriates are finding it increasingly difficult to open a foreign bank account.

In light of all this, what these latest figures are showing is that US citizens living abroad are simply renouncing their US citizenship and avoiding the hassle and costs of the US tax system - a trend that is likely to continue in the coming years.

Contact our legal document translation service to obtain certified translations of legal and financial documents from and into Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Czech, Norwegian, and other languages for use in Denver, CO, nationwide and worldwide.

Translation for Attorneys, Intellectual Property and Google Ads

Tue, 15 May 2012 05:53:27 -0700

We've blogged about international legal language translation services in the content of trademark protection and the trademark applicants' bona fide intent to use. When one conducts a multilingual or monolingual search on Google, one doesn't often think about intellectual property law. But when advertising plays a role in the search, then IP can become an issue.

For example, when you search for a term in a search engine, besides the relevant pages will appear advertisements that match the searched for keywords. Knowing this, what if you decided to use your competitor's brand as a keyword so that, when somebody searches for them, you actually show up on top - is this a copyright infringement?

As US District Court in California recently ruled on this exact issue. In Binder v. Disability Group, Inc., the plaintiffs and defendants were in competition for social security disability claimants. The defendants advertised their services on Google and used keywords that were the trademarks of the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs sued for statutory trademark infringement and unfair competition.

According to the court, there was a strong likelihood of confusion as the plaintiffs' mark and that used by defendants as a keyword were identical. Furthermore, plaintiffs' marks were strong as they were extensively marketed and advertised. Based on these findings, the court found that the infringement of the plaintiffs' trademarks was a willful violation of the plaintiffs' statutory and common law rights and awarded double damages plus reasonable attorneys' fees and costs against the defendants.

This issue can become more of an issue when the trademark is in a foreign language, in which case the use and meaning will first have to be determined via a professional online legal translation.

Translation Services USA and Certified Notarized Translations of US Immigration Documents

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:40:54 -0700

We've blogged about the need for professional certified legal interpreters and translators for immigration interviews and the importance of certified notarized English translations of foreign-language documents in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Immigration (also known as USCIS- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). According to a recent decision by the US 9th Circuit, a state law that automatically legitimizes everyone born out of wedlock satisfies the 'legitimation' requirement for citizenship of a foreign-born child of an unwed US citizen father. Anderson v. Holder (March 12, 2012). Specifically, the Court stated: "Citizenship is determined under the federal law that was in place at the time of the birth of the person in question".

In Anderson, the person in question was born in 1954. In 1954, federal law only granted citizenship when paternity was established by legitimation before the child reached the age of 21. The child in question spent his childhood in Arizona, a state which, at the time, had no paternity legitimation procedure in place - a result of a 1921 state statute making all children automatically 'legitimate'.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt writes: "To require some unspecified formal act not only defies the state legislature, it imposes a Kafkaesque requirement to undertake a formal process that does not exist."

This decision will have interesting ramifications as immigration continues to play a role in states such as Arizona. When a child's parents are foreign-born and in the country illegally, or when there is no documentation showing the country in which the child was born, new issues related to the US citizenship are likely to arise. Further, if a child is born in the US but later moves overseas to live with a foreign parent, how does this play in if later on the citizenship becomes an issue? Regardless, all will require the use of certified foreign language document translations.

Legal Translation Services and the Need for Careful Drafting of International Arbitration Provisions

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:29:39 -0700

We've blogged about the importance of professional legal translation and litigation interpreting services for drafting international arbitration documents. The 11th Circuit recently issued a decision highlighting the need for careful corporate drafting of international arbitration provisions. Jane Doe v. Princess Cruise Lines, Litd. (11th Cir. 2011) The case dealt with an employee of the cruise line who was allegedly drugged by other employees and physically injured while unconscious. When she reported the incident to officials, she was treated with indifference and the employer refused to provide proper medical treatment.

The issue before the court was whether and, if so, to what extent, her claims were arbitrable under a broad arbitration clause in her contract.

The contract made a specific reference to required arbitration for personal injury claims, along with stating:
"The Company and crew member agree that any and all disputes, claims, or controversies whatsoever (whether in contract, regulatory, tort or otherwise and whether pre-existing, present or future and including constitutional, statutory, common law, admiralty, intentional tort and equitable claims) relating to or in any way arising out of or connected with the Crew Agreement, these terms, or services performed for the Company.

Interestingly, the court stated that despite the clause's breadth, the plaintiff's claims did not have to be arbitrated. Specifically, the court held that the 'relating to', 'arising out of' and 'connected to' language "marks a boundary by indicating some direct relationship or direct connection." Hence, some claims not even indirectly related to the work environment fell outside this provision.

From an international perspective, this decision is interesting in that it requires a close reading (and drafting) of contract clauses. When dealing in an international business setting involving foreign languages, this will require professional foreign language translations.

Multilingual Legal Translation Services and Compelled Speech in the Workplace

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:23:15 -0700

We've blogged about legal translation and multilingual deposition interpreting services in the context of the EEOC guidelines that recognize two classes of English-only rules. From one point of view, the cultural tolerance requirements of the EEOC could be viewed as a form of compelled speech - and courts have traditionally shown hostility towards any form of directly compelled expression.

However, making the case that an English-only rule is a form of compelled speech can be difficult, as the compelled nature is often subtle. This is because although the EEOC does require cultural tolerance to an extent, it by no means requires an employee to sign a pledge stating they support everyone's right to speak in their native language.

The issue of compelled speech is actually more likely to arise on the employer's side. It is the employer who is deprived of their prerogative to set the cultural agenda at the workplace, due the EEOC Guidelines. In other words, they are now forced to take specific steps, often at costs (such as foreign language translation and interpreting services) in order to accommodate cultural practices at work - even if they object to them.

Is this being overly cautious? Not likely. In fact, employers are smart to go out of their way to limit liability for having a hostile work place. For example, in the case of Maldonado v. City of Altus, the court held that an English-only policy may be evidence of an intent to create a hostile work environment. So, with this case in mind, employers could argue that they feel compelled to take actions which they object to.

Attorney Translation Services and Foreign Investment Translations

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:53:01 -0700

We've blogged about the need for professional legal and financial translation services to translate multilingual documents pertaining to global pension funds. A few days ago the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on possible modifications to tax-favored retirement savings plans, including employer-sponsored defined IRAs, which could be considered as part of comprehensive tax reform. Traditionally, IRAs receive favorable tax treatment. However, according to the Committee, this equates to over 200 billion dollars in lost federal revenue per year. Needless to say, the government is looking at changing the IRA's status in order to recover some of this revenue.

The issue seems to stem from the fact that there is currently a proliferation of tax-favored retirement accounts, causing some to question whether the large number of plans with different rules and eligibility criteria leads to confusion, reducing the effectiveness of the incentives in increasing retirement savings.

One concern though is that if the tax favored status of IRAs is changed in any way, many people will turn to international tax sheltering and saving options. That trend will likely costs the government more in revenue - both in lost revenue and in revenue used for monitoring foreign investment accounts. At the same time, the individual will lose due to the costs of setting up a foreign savings or investment account, which will require such additional costs, such as foreign language translations.

Contact our corporate translations agency to obtain top-notch translations of Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Norwegian, Spanish, and other foreign language documents.

Legal Translating Services and Foreign Languages in the Workplace: The EEOC Guidelines

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:01:47 -0700

We've blogged about legal translation services and the scope of the U.S. employment discrimination laws in international settings. When it comes to the use of a foreign language in the workplace, there is often a conflict between the employee's desire to communicate in their native language and the employer's desire to operate in a single language environment. When such clashes cannot get resolves, one turns to the EEOC. The EEOC's approach is to essentially strike a compromise between an employer's interests in efficient business operations while still granting cultural rights to employees in limited circumstances. So where's the line?

According to the EEOC, the issue comes down to the business necessity of a given rule or regulation. In summary, the EEOC guidelines recognize two classes of English-only rules:

1. They condemn rules that require employees to speak English at all times. These are viewed as "a burdensome term and condition of employment". Such rules create "an atmosphere of inferiority, isolation and intimidation based on national origin which could result in a discriminatory working environment".

2. Restrictions that require English only at certain times are given more leeway and are generally held acceptable so long as the employer can demonstrate a business necessity for having them.

In practice, the difference between the two can be viewed as a public/private divide. For example, requiring employees to use English within operational areas of the workplace, such as the assembly line or cash register, is viewed as a business necessity. On the other hand, prohibiting the use of foreign languages in places like the break room or private phone conversations will likely not be seen as a necessary part of doing business.

Contact our legal translation service to retain competent Greek, Korean, Cantonese, and other language interpreters for workplace investigations, depositions and arbitrations.

Certified Translation Services and Concealment of Value of Marital Assets

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:24:19 -0700

We've blogged about important role that certified notarized and apostilled translations play in transnational divorce proceedings. Even after a divorce is finalized, parties often find themselves dealing with 'buyer's remorse'. And just like when buying a house or a car, a divorce decision is difficult to set aside. As Kojovic v. Goldman shows, even in extreme cases in which the value of a marital asset turns out to have been greatly undervalued - to the tune of millions of dollars - even then it is difficult to have a decision overturned.

In this particular case, the parties settled their divorce after they had exchanged the customary financial information, with the husband disclosing his minority interest in an information technology company. In the settlement the wife received nearly $1.5 million. However, about one month later the IT company was bought for $225 million. Needless to say the wife sued to set aside the settlement on the basis of fraud and unconscionability.

However, the court refused the claim, finding that the wife failed to state a valid cause of action, stating that 'merely because she now believed her husband privately harbored a more optimistic assessment of the potential value of his minority interest in that company, or even had additional information that he kept to himself, was irrelevant."

What is of particular interest in this decision is that the court specifically noted that the wife (a former equity research assistant and a finance professional) and her counsel and accountant all had the ability to avail themselves to any number of valuation and discovery procedures but expressly denied doing so.

So what could move a court to set aside a decision? One possibility is when foreign assets are involved and one party deceives the other by 'hiding' information in foreign languages - but even here it is the other party's responsibility to secure proper certified apostilled foreign language translations during the discovery process.

Contact our legal document translation service to obtain certified Persian translation, as well as certified document translations in any other language.

Legal Language Translation Services and New International Arbitration Rules in Singapore

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:43:20 -0700

Malay, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and English document translations are required when doing business with companies in Singapore, as these are the country's official languages. In early April Singapore issued its new International Arbitration Act 2012, which amends the 2010 edition. The amended version contains four key changes:

Negative Jurisdictional Rulings

According to the Act, if a tribunal decides as a preliminary question that it has no jurisdiction, the aggrieved party has no recourse to judicial review.

Tribunal's Power to Award Interest

The Art does not clearly define the scope of a tribunal's power to award post-award interest and interest on costs. It does, however, allow a tribunal to award a simple or compound interest at a rate deemed appropriate by the arbitration tribunal.

Emergency Arbitrator Procedure

The Act now accords emergency arbitrators the same standing as any other arbitral tribunal and to ensure that orders of emergency arbitrators are equally enforceable.

Writing Requirement

All arbitration agreements under the International Arbitration Act can now include "an agreement made by electronic communication if the information contained therein is accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference". In other words, an arbitration agreement will be deemed "in writing" if "its content is recorded in any form, whether or not the arbitration agreement or contract has been concluded orally, by conduct, or by other means."

This of course requires that the parties both agree using a language that they understand. As this is an international arbitration agreement, naturally there will be instances where the parties are from different backgrounds - meaning that legal document translation services will play an essential role.

Contact our legal translation service to obtain professional document translations from and into Chinese, French, Italian, Russian, Czech, and other languages.

Legal Translation Services and Determining Jurisdiction when there is no 'Home'

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:26:14 -0700

We've blogged about legal document translation and legal interpretation in the context of child relocation issues. In custody decisions, jurisdiction depends on identifying the child's home state - but what if there isn't one? This is often the issue in international custody disputes where there is always a need for multilingual legal translation services. To illustrate, we'll look at the court's analysis in the case of Grace G v. Beeno G, where the child was living overseas with a grandparent. In this case, the child's parents moved from Trinidad to the US (mother to New York, father to Florida), leaving the daughter in Trinidad with the father's mother. Years later (after a divorce with no mention of the daughter was filed), the mother seized the daughter in Florida and moved her to New York. The father filed for custody in Florida. The question - who has jurisdiction?

New York law holds that child custody jurisdiction is in the state in which a child lived with a parent or person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the commencement of the proceeding. However, in the case at hand the daughter was not in either New York or Florida for this required time period. So what about Trinidad? According to the New York law, "a court shall treat a foreign country as if it were a state of the United States". Case solved?

Not exactly.

The statute says residency does not count for 'home state' purposes unless it is in 'the state in which a child lived with a parent or person acting as a parent'. To determine this, the court uses a two-pronged test:

Did the person in question (grandmother) have physical custody for a period of six consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one year immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding?

The person had been awarded legal custody by a court or claims a right to legal custody.
In the case at hand the grandmother fails to meet the second prong of the test - a decision reached after the use of foreign language translations of Trinidad court documents. Thus the court turned to an alternative route for determination. Using the 'close connection' test, the court ruled for New York jurisdiction.
Contract our legal translation firm to retain foreign language document reviewers, court interpreters, translators for multilingual eDiscovery in Denver, Colorado, and beyond.

Specialized Document Translation Services and Protecting the Cloud

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:58:31 -0700

We've blogged about professional legal document translation services and global legal issues related to cloud computing. In late 2011the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that brings a much needed level of clarity to defining and protecting the e-discovery rights of non-US nationals utilizing US online services. According to Suzlon Energy Ltd. V. Microsoft Corporation, emails stored on services located within the US, regardless of the user's location or nationality, are protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which ensures that the disclosure of emails by electronic communication service providers is limited and restricted to specific circumstances.

As a result of this decision, it is now clear that any user with an account in a US-held cloud service will be subject to the same protections under the provisions of the ECPA as any US citizen. Of course this does create some challenges related to multilingual document translations.. When the user is located in a foreign country there will be a need for foreign language translations of all contracts and related documents.

Contact our Denver, Colorado specialized translation company to inquire about language interpreter services and translating legal documents from and into any foreign language.

Certified Translation Services and Move Towards an International E-Discovery Agreement

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:33:59 -0700

Multilingual ediscovery translation services and corporate translation services are relevant for multinational companies that have operations in the US and are subject to both the US civil procedure discovery rules and the privacy laws of the European Union or other 'home base' countries. Such transnational companies are no stranger to the complications of e-discovery rules, since trying to comply with both rules can became an issue when a conflict of laws arises.

Based on this issue, a Working Group has been formed to draft proposed international principles (Working Group 6 of The Sedona Conference's International Principles on Discovery, Disclosure and Data Protection). The principles are currently available for public comment. It should be noted, however, that the current principles are the EU version, with the stated focus of being 'principally on the relationship between US preservation and discovery obligations and the EU Data Protection Directive'.

The document is based around six general principles:

With regard to data that is subject to preservation, disclosure, or discovery, courts and parties should demonstrate due respect to the Data Protection Laws of any foreign sovereign and the interests of any person who is subject to or benefits from such laws.
Where full compliance with both Data Protection Laws and preservation, disclosure, and discovery obligations presents a conflict, a party's conduct should be judged by a court or data protection authority under a standard of good faith and reasonableness.
Preservation or discovery of Protected Data should be limited in scope to that which is relevant and necessary to support any party's claim or defense in order to minimize conflicts of law and impact on the Data Subject.
Where a conflict exists between Data Protection Laws and preservation, disclosure, or discovery obligations, a stipulation or court order should be employed to protect Protected Data and minimize the conflict.
A Data Controller subject to preservation, disclosure, or discovery obligations should be prepared to demonstrate that data protection obligations have been addressed and that appropriate data protection safeguards have been instituted.
Data Controllers should retain Protected Data only as long as necessary to satisfy legal or business needs. While a legal action is pending or remains reasonably anticipated, Data Controllers should preserve relevant information, including relevant Protected Data, with appropriate data safeguards.

Contact our legal document translating firm to retain French, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Turkish, Czech translators and document reviewers for on-site or off-site e-Discovery translation and multilingual document review in Denver, Colorado, and elsewhere.

Multi Language Translators and Court Interpreters, and Pitfalls in Privilege

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:43:21 -0700

The presence of a foreign language interpreter does not in general terminate attorney-client privilege. However, there are instances where the interpreter's presence could constitute waiver of this privilege. The most notable of these privilege pitfalls is when a foreign language interpreter accidentally or intentionally reveals privileged information to a third party. When then happens, it is considered a waiver of attorney-client privilege, which is forever waived with respect to any third party who later requests it during discovery.

Waiver is typically considered waived when the actual attorney-client communication - or even just details about it - are disclosed outside the relationship, including to friends, family members or others whose role is not related to facilitating communication between the attorney and client. More so, the courts have held that there is no requirement of 'intent to waive', thus it can easily occur when a party mistakenly makes a disclosure. In particular, the court will look to see if the party failed to take adequate steps to prevent the mistake from occurring.

And of course all of this will fall onto the attorney as they are held responsible.

To learn about working with professional deposition interpreters and court interpreters visit A Lawyer's Guide to Cross-Cultural Depositions.

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Legal Language Interpreters and Legal Document Translators - Another Look at Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, LTD

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:59:46 -0700

Compensation for court document translations, as mentioned in a previous legal translation blog post, and the Supreme Court's decision in Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, LTD will have far reaching effects. Let's take a closer look at what's at stake.

At issue is whether the 'compensation of interpreters' clause in 28 USC sec. 1920(6) should be read to allow courts to award translation fees for both written and verbal language interpretations.

Increased Costs

According to the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAIIT), a decision that allows both would 'substantially increase the potential liability for losing parties'. "While verbal interpretations have natural time and expense limits, no such limits exist for written translations," it says. More so, this would require courts to assess whether the costs were reasonably incurred and the rate at which the party should be repaid - a lengthy and costly process.

A Chilling Effect

In light of potentially increased costs, it can be argued that parties will be discouraged from filing meritorious suits out of a fear of having to pay for large document translation expenses. However, this could be a negative outcome for non-English speakers and immigrants, who are more likely to bring suits requiring foreign language translations. Stay tuned for more information.

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