Creating and updating terminology and translation glossaries requires time and effort, especially in the initial phases of a project. Organizations and translation agencies that used those tools know that, but understand the importance and usefulness of them. Translators also know that they will save time and effort in the long run, with the additional benefits of maintaining consistency and clarity on the terms. The use of translation glossaries and terminology guide and aid the quality assurance process of the translation project as well.

Term bases and glossaries are databases where we store either the explanation of a term (as in a monolingual dictionary), the equivalence of a given term in a different language (as in a bilingual dictionary) or both. These databases facilitate the translation process particularly preserving consistency throughout all documents, websites, software, manual and user interface.

The use of terminology, term bases, and translation glossaries are very beneficial in technical translation and within subjects that require the use of specific vocabulary. Also when working on a project with a large amount of documents or with a client that returns regularly, having term bases brings benefits for both the translator and the client.

Benefits of Terminology Management:

• Reduces time to market. It reduces translation time. All terms, even internal terminology of the company, forbidden terms, acronyms and accepted translation are approved and ready to be used in the term base and in the translation glossary.
• Facilitates edition and revision of documents.
• Translation will become more and more consistent with time even if multiple translators are involved.
• By eliminating ambiguity in the terminology your message will always be clear for your reader.
• Share knowledge of your business domain with the staff of your company and with outside organizations among them, your translation agency.
• Use of the same terms consistently across the different content and  communication process that support your product or services.

Your translated content should be clear and precise. Your translators are the vehicle to achieve that, the more information and resources you provide them the more time they will to work in the creative process.

Two main reasons have triggered the need for legal translation:

1. World Immigration
2. International Commerce (globalization)

And, contrary to marketing translation, there is no freedom when translating legal documents. The translation has to be a verbatim of the original document since one change will render the translation invalid or could be the reason of a lawsuit.

But there are a couple of similarities between marketing and legal translation. One is that translators specialize in legal translation. Legal terminology is very specific, almost unnatural compared to every day vocabulary. It uses, for example, many Latin words. That is why translators train to do this job and go to workshops to keep up with the subject.

And just as with localization for marketing material, there is localization in legal. The legal system in England and in the United States use different words to name the same things, for example:

Lawyer is a general word for someone who has professional training in legal work or who is an expert in the law. In American English, the word attorney is often used instead, especially in legal or official language and especially to refer to a lawyer who represents people in court.

In British English, there is a difference between a solicitor, who gives legal advice and prepares legal documents, and a barrister, who represents people in court.

Not to mention that different countries have different legal systems, which carry many other variations.

Hiring a professional translator cannot be more important than in legal translation. It can only be compared to medical translations. Make sure that your translator is aware of and able to perform perfectly your legal needs to avoid difficulties in your legal process.