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Largely because of the sensitivity of cross-border contracts

such as M&As, EULAs, etc., quality is one of the major risks

that can derail an effective global contract translation

process.

To deliver fast, dependable, contract translation, you must

strike harmony between local proficiency along with the

competitive advantages of centralizing critical operations.

There’s little question that local assets possess vital insights

into their marketplaces. Equally, it’s true that virtually no

organization gains by confronting the same exact problem

fifty different ways, in fifty various locales, repeatedly.

This brief considers the challenges of a

dispersed contract translation model, uncovers

the most reliable solution to quality

management and explains how to establish an

efficient and effective global contract

translation process.

The Guide to High-Quality Multi-Region Contract Translation

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UNDERSTANDING THE QUALITY CHALLENGES

Decentralized control – For many

global companies, the contract

translation process is handled from

local offices, but a dispersed model

like this often impedes consistency and

transparency, along with the

organization’s capacity to deliver fast,

dependable contract translation.

Regionalized control – Some

companies establish regional groups to

perform checks and balances. This

model is more efficient in the

organization’s capacity to deliver than

that from the local level; however,

there remain disadvantages from lack

of redundancy, consistency,

transparency, and ability to maximize

the true volume of your translations for

savings.

Centralized control – Where your

legal translation process is managed

from one central location or team,

rendering all the pieces transparent:

costs, timelines, and quality. Here you

gain improved quality, predictability,

consistency, utilization of resources

and the competitive advantage for the

organization to react to emerging

markets and obstacles.

THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION

It is not uncommon for divisions of the very same business to be translating comparable

documents, applying assorted approaches, and using different suppliers.

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The most common models for managing global contracts are:

The advantages of a central approach include easy scalability,

transparency, cost projections and risk containment. For you,

this also creates dependable multilingual contracts with

consistency, repeatability, and high levels of accuracy.

Naturally, this strategy is only as good as your language

service provider.

UNDERSTANDING THE QUALITY CHALLENGES

Stylistic incongruences –

There is a consistency consideration

to translations and contracts, but

ultimately, certain terms will not

impact the legal effect of the

agreement. Corrective measure lies

with terminology and style guides.

It is rather improbable you

will possess total “natural”

consensus across fifty

countries with 200+

individuals touching contracts

and because of this, there are

common reoccurring issues

that arise during the global

contract process.

Source Document Consistency –

Translation is reasonably a “rubbish in

rubbish out process.” If there is an

issue in the source contract that isn’t

captured until after it is translated, and

let’s say it costs $100 to correct for

each language, the expenditures

accumulate quickly. So, it’s a good

idea to expand corrective measures to

source control processes, as well as

glossary and style guide adoption.

Egregious errors –

Inaccurately conveying terms cause

some of the legal foundation of the

contract to be lost. Corrective action

involves translation team auditing,

quality defect reporting and ultimately,

team replacement.

Approximately 75% of contract translation falls into this category.

Typically less than 5% of errors fall into this category , with the majority being spelling and grammar challenges.

THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION

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ESTABLISHING A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Establishing a quality management system enables you to

fasten, harness and concentrate the collective effort and

resources of the extensive global team in a singular

collaborative track. Done correctly, local entities retain their

influence in a fresh, proven model that is superior in

everything from quality and cost-efficiency, to uniformity and

reliability.

Benefits of Centralized Contract Translation

• Centralized management with local validation

• Little or no redundancy, optimal transparency

• Uniformly superior quality

• Ability to synchronize initiatives across market

segments

• Optimal use of linguistic assets

• Projection of a single, homogeneous message

globally

• Freeing local workforce for strategic function

• Competitive benefit through enhanced control

• Trustworthy access to the partner’s worldwide

resources

THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION

www.viadelivers.com

HOW TO ROLL OUT AN EFFECTIVE GLOBAL CONTRACT TRANSLATION PROCESS

Though change is not easy, the quality, speed and cost

advantages of a centralized contract translation process,

managed through a globally capable partner, are too

significant to ignore.

The legal translation cycle requires many steps, due to the

often technical and precise nature of the content. So, the

more you can centralize and automate workflow, the faster

you’ll achieve contract delivery.

That said, your in-country stakeholders may not want to

relinquish control. So, you will need to gain their buy-in

and approval upfront. One way to do this is to incorporate

the regional level in review and approval opportunities, so

you can ensure quality contract translation in a timely

fashion.

It is through collaboration with your language service provider and existing local experts that

you will be able to produce the most effective global contract translation solution.

THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION

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1 2 3 4 5 Step

6 7 8 9 10 Step

You meet with regional controllers to introduce a centralized approach and specialized legal language service

provider (LSP)

LSP creates English Glossaries of key terms from source

You confirm key English terms are complete

LSP creates Style Guides based on existing contract base

You determine in-country reviewers and establish feedback channel for Style Guides and Glossaries

LSP translates agreed English terms into target languages

You review translated terms and confirm final selections

LSP updates terms into central Glossary and publishes it via web or email with projects

You review Style Guides per region and provide feedback

You and LSP consider populating Translation Memory (TM) to “Optimal Asset Size”

AN IDEAL STEP-BY-STEP OVERVIEW FOR REGION/COUNTRY ROLL OUT

THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION

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11 12 13 14 15

16 Step

You and LSP establish reporting metrics and style

You and LSP establish the approach for managing and resolving quality issues and present to team

You and LSP establish process for ongoing management of Glossary – updating and reflecting required and approved changes

You and LSP establish process for ongoing additions to TM and Style Guide reflecting required and approved changes

You and LSP establish Weekly/ Monthly regional review of metric reporting including progression to optimum asset size, quality scoring and activity level

You and LSP establish ongoing quality review and escalation cycle

Step

AN IDEAL STEP-BY-STEP OVERVIEW FOR REGION/COUNTRY ROLL OUT

THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION

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Centralizing legal translation does not make sense

for every corporation, so how do you know if it

makes sense for yours?

A good rule of thumb is, if your organization spends upward of

$200K per year on legal content only, you will realize savings and

benefit from the consistency and quality that centralization brings.

The ROI of centralization tends to grow along with spending. For

example, companies averaging $2-5M per year on legal content

translation will often see a higher percentage of savings than

companies spending $1M per year. See how VIA helped one

world-leading software company streamline its global

contract process.

ARE YOU A CANDIDATE FOR CENTRALIZED LEGAL TRANSLATION MANAGEMENT?

About VIA

VIA is a trusted provider of legal translation services to leading

brands around the globe including Cisco, Oracle, Google, Nike,

Walmart, HP, Expedia and more.

Contact Us

To learn more about VIA Legal translation

solutions or how VIA can help your organization

achieve improved translation processes, contact

us at 1-800-737-8481 or visit us online at

www.viadelivers.com.

THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION