What is enhanced machine translation and when should your law firm use it
Over the last few years we’ve seen an acceleration of technology advancements that have, in many ways, made our work lives easier. With so many technical tools at your disposal, how do you know which ones will save you time and money? Machine translation tools, such as Google Translate have been around for nearly two decades. And, as the years went by, technologies such as this have continued to advance and become more sophisticated.
Have you ever considered using a machine to translate your documents? If so, you probably quickly realized that putting the translation of sensitive and important documents in the hands of a machine was risky. Machine errors are bound to happen. And when they do, your firm and your clients can be put at a significant disadvantage.
What if you could have the best of both worlds, the speed of a machine and the accuracy of a human?
Humans and machines, working together
Even professional human translators, who are fluent in multiple languages, face challenges when working on complex translation projects. When this happens, the professional translator needs to pause and look at the nuances or hidden meanings in a document so that they can translate a piece of text correctly. This is something that a machine simply cannot do.
In the legal field, this poses a huge challenge. You want to save time and money, so it’s tempting to use automated machine translations. But what happens when your document isn’t translated accurately? In the legal world, this can be costly to both your firm and your client.
As you know, even small errors can make or break a case. While you may want to partner with a language service provider (LSP) to ensure the accuracy you need, tight deadlines and low budgets may cause you to pause and consider using machine translation instead.
Today, you no longer need to make that choice! At Burg Translations we can give you the best of both worlds – enhanced machine translations.
Enhanced machine translations described
Enhanced machine translations (EMT) combines the speed of automated translation with the accuracy of human work.
EMTs provide paralegals, lawyers, and others in the legal industry accurate human translation where they need it most. When you use EMT, you get to choose which sections you need translated by a professional human translator and which can be left to a machine. This enables you to get the accuracy you need much more cost-effectively than ever before.
Now that you know what EMT is, how can it help you and your legal practice?
Take a look at the five ways EMT can help you improve your cases and deliver better outcomes to your clients.
1. Use professional translators only when necessary.
Since much of the jargon found in technical guidelines and other practical documents isn’t necessary to your case, you may only need a small piece of the text to make your case. So why use a professional translator to translate unnecessary components?
On the flip side, you can’t afford to let a critical component of your case be left to a machine. Yet, it’s time and cost inefficient to have a full document translated by a human when you only need components to be 100% accurate.
This is where EMT comes into play. You get the most critical portions of your document translated with professional accuracy, while automating the components that require less precision.
2. Analyze contracts with more accuracy.
The same is true for contracts. Regardless of the type of law you practice, contracts play a major roley. But in most cases, you only need a portion of the contract accurately translated.
A professional translator, with a deep understanding of legal terms and jargon, is the best choice to translate these sections. And you can leave the rest to EMT.
3. Dissect international laws and regulations quickly.
As you know, to support your case you need to research the laws and regulations of the other country, which typically involves a lot of detailed verbiage that you need to sort through. Translating these lengthy documents can take days, if not weeks, and in the legal field time is of the essence.
By having a professional translator translate only the specific sections that need clarification, you can not only save time, but you’ll be able to get to the core of the data that you need much quicker. What this means is that you won’t have to wait for extensive legalese to be translated when all you need is a snippet of the text to be completely accurate. By streamlining the process you’ll have a much more accurate translation to work with.
4. Translate only what you need from emails and websites.
Planning your case requires sifting through an ocean of online information, including emails and websites. However, in most cases you only need small bits and pieces of website and email content translated to use as evidence.
It should come as no surprise that the small nuances in email and website communication can’t be picked up by machine translations, but they can by human translators. When you use a professional translator to translate these components, you can rest assured that you’ll have the translation accuracy you need to fight your client’s legal battle. By using EMT, you’re able to make a stronger case in less time, without the high investment of a human translator sorting through all of the evidence.
5. Get a clearer picture of legal documents.
Legal documents are filled with jargon. This speech is complex and can be difficult to translate. When you partner with an LSP that specializes in legal translations you’ll get a professional translator that’s able to clarify the text in your legal documents, providing you with a clearer translation.
Summary
The next time you’re faced with a piece of evidence, journal article, or contract that is in a foreign language, put EMT to work! You’ll save time, money, and gain peace of mind that your legal translations will be done quickly and accurately.
If you’d like to learn more about how BURG Translations helps you ensure high quality legal translations, contact us today.
