Specialist translation for law & legal Legal translation
Legal translation and certified translation for large law firms, legal ops and in-house legal departments. From M&A contracts through e-discovery to a certified document for filing in court: our translators with legal training deliver specialist translation that is terminologically precise and informed by both legal systems.
Audited and certified four times overTranslation partner to companies with high standards
- Document types: M&A contracts (SPAs), compliance policies, e-discovery evidence, statements of claim, certified documents, patents and GDPR documentation.
- Specialisation: specialist translators with legal training (LL.M., state examination or similar) for terminologically correct translation that accounts for the differences between common law and civil law.
- Cost: MTPE workflows (ISO 18587) from €0.05/word for e-discovery volumes. Specialist translation with a review under the four-eyes principle (ISO 17100) from €0.12/word. Express in 24 hours for court filings.
- Security: certified to ISO 27001, servers in Germany, NDA cascades with flow-down clauses to every specialist translator on the job.
Common law vs civil law
Why legal translation calls for knowledge of both legal systems
A contract never exists in a vacuum. It is always embedded in the law it was written under. That is the central difficulty in cross-border transactions: Anglo-American common law and continental European civil law follow fundamentally different logics.
Terms such as “consideration”, or the strict separation of “representations” and “warranties”, do not exist in that form in the German civil code. The English “shall” is binding in one context and advisory in another. A literal word-for-word rendering by generic software leads to misunderstandings and to compliance risk.
Our specialist translators with legal training know the terminology of both systems and pick the linguistically correct counterpart in the target language. In a specialist translation of an SPA, “representations and warranties” becomes “Zusicherungen und Garantien”, or, depending on the contract, “selbstständiges Garantieversprechen (§ 311 Abs. 1 BGB)”. Which wording is legally correct is for the advising lawyer in the target market to decide. We supply the linguistically precise, terminologically consistent basis for that decision.
Our legal specialist translations are terminologically correct, consistent and, on request, checked under the four-eyes principle (ISO 17100). They do not replace legal advice in the target market. Legal review and adaptation to the jurisdiction remain with the instructed lawyers. We recommend having a translated contract reviewed by a lawyer before it is signed.
One weak point in the supply chain for legal translation is the uncontrolled use of freelancers with no binding confidentiality obligation. tolingo closes that gap with strict flow-down clauses. Every NDA we sign with your firm is passed on to our specialist translators in a legally binding form. The work happens in closed TMS environments certified to ISO 27001.
Certified translations
Accepted in court, recognised by the authorities, ready to file
Alongside complex legal specialist translation, we offer certified translations by translators sworn under section 142 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO). German courts, authorities and notaries recognise these as legally binding. The certification note confirms that the translation is complete and correct.
For international use we can also arrange legalisation by the regional court and the apostille under the Hague Convention. Documents that typically need certification: articles of association, commercial register extracts, statements of claim, powers of attorney, judgments and notarial deeds.
For law firms and companies: certified translations at fixed prices, no quotation process, ordered directly online.
Go to JuristraFor private individuals: a photo of the document is enough, 24-hour express option, ordered directly online.
Go to Beglaubigung24For international clients: certified translations into and out of English, accepted in court worldwide.
Go to Sworn TranslatorsLegal document types
From due diligence to the statement of claim
We support in-house legal teams, large law firms and corporate legal departments across the whole legal lifecycle, from incorporation to international arbitration. As a certified translation agency with defined processes under ISO 17100, we keep the work fully auditable.
Share purchase agreements (SPAs), articles of association, joint ventures, disclosure schedules and letters of intent, under a strict NDA with flow-down clauses.
Certified translations of commercial register extracts, powers of attorney, judgments and notarial deeds, accepted in court. With an apostille and legalisation on request.
Review of millions of words of email and chat logs for regulatory second requests (Bundeskartellamt, DOJ). Secure MTPE workflows for large volumes.
Codes of conduct, anti-corruption policies, privacy notices and whistleblower policies. Company-wide localisation to keep compliance in place.
Statements of claim, pleadings, witness statements, judgments and arbitral awards. Terminologically precise translation for filing with international courts and arbitral tribunals.
Patent applications, claims, trade mark applications and licence agreements. Terminological precision decides here, because one wrong word can narrow the scope of protection.
E-discovery vs core contracts
Two workflows, one security architecture
Handling an e-discovery request calls for a completely different technical approach than translating a final M&A contract. tolingo offers hybrid workflows that bring cost down without putting quality at risk.
| Use case | Volume & timeframe | tolingo workflow | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-discovery / first review | Extremely high (millions of words). Very short deadlines. | MTPE (machine translation post-editing): highly secure machine pre-translation plus correction by human post-editors. From €0.05/word. | ISO 18587 |
| M&A core contracts & patents | Moderate. The focus is terminological precision. | Human translation by specialist translators with legal training. With a review under the four-eyes principle (ISO 17100) on request. From €0.12/word. | ISO 17100 |
| Certified translations | Single documents. Often tight against a court deadline. | Translation by sworn translators (section 142 ZPO) with a certification note. With an apostille on request. | ISO 17100 plus certification |
| Compliance rollout (multi-region) | Medium volume, many languages at once. | Hybrid approach with terminology management: consistent translation across every jurisdiction. | ISO 17100 |
How your legal translation runs
From the secure upload to delivery
- Secure document upload and NDA
You upload your documents through our encrypted platform. Before the project starts we sign your NDA, or our standard NDA with its flow-down clause. For certified translations we clarify up front whether an apostille or legalisation is needed.
- Area of law analysed, translator assigned
We look at the area of law, the target language and the document type, then assign a specialist translator with legal training who knows the terminology of both systems. For an English share purchase agreement, for instance, a translator who specialises in German company law.
- Specialist translation with synchronised terminology
Translation runs on our translation memory and your own glossaries, so “representations and warranties” is rendered identically in every disclosure schedule. No room for interpretation.
- Legal review on request (four-eyes principle)
In the premium service (ISO 17100) a second, independent specialist translator checks the work: is the terminology correct and consistent? Do the section references match? Are the terms of both legal systems rendered correctly?
- Quality assurance and delivery
Final check, certification if ordered, then delivery. Standard: three to six working days. For court filings and injunctions we offer express in 24 hours and follow-the-sun workflows for overnight delivery.
“I am delighted. What I like most is the very friendly, personal service and the high quality of the translation.”
Bring your liability risk down.
On cross-border transactions and court proceedings, rely on certified translation quality, from the specialist translation through to the certified document.
Free · No obligation · Encrypted to ISO 27001ISO 27001 and data sovereignty
Your data does not leave Europe
Using open web translators (DeepL, ChatGPT) inside a law firm breaches attorney-client privilege. Confidential contract content is transferred to third-party servers, often without the partners involved knowing. tolingo answers that risk with an enterprise security architecture.
| Security measure | Standard | Why it matters for legal |
|---|---|---|
| Geo-redundant hosting in Germany | GDPR, outside the US CLOUD Act | Your M&A data falls under German data protection law. No access by US authorities. |
| Certified ISMS | ISO/IEC 27001 | Regular penetration tests, 256-bit SSL encryption, restrictive identity and access management (IAM). |
| Flow-down NDA clauses | Contractual | Every confidentiality obligation is passed on in legally binding form to each specialist translator on the job. |
| Closed TMS environments | ISO 27001 | No open cloud translators. Your translation memory stays in a dedicated, encrypted environment. |
Cost and delivery times
Transparent budgeting for legal teams
Legal translation starts from a higher base price than standard translation, because it calls for knowledge of both legal systems and a high level of terminological care. For bulk e-discovery data we offer MTPE workflows under ISO 18587 from €0.05/word. Specialist translation with a review under the four-eyes principle (ISO 17100) starts at €0.12/word.
Standard delivery is three to six working days. For injunctions, court filings and M&A signing deadlines we offer express translation in 24 hours. On particularly time-critical litigation projects we use follow-the-sun workflows with specialist translators in different time zones.
Where a clause already sits in your translation memory as a 100% match, that segment is discounted by 60% to 70%. For firms working with recurring contract clauses and standard boilerplate, that adds up quickly, and the file analysis shows how much of a given document it covers. Certified translations are charged at a fixed price per page.
A contract, a statement of claim or a certified document?
Tell us about your project. We find the right specialist translator and the right level of security.
Certified to ISO 17100 and ISO 27001 · In business since 2007Glossary: legal localisation
Terms used in legal translation management
- Legal specialist translator
- A specialist translator who, alongside linguistic training, holds a legal qualification such as a state examination or an LL.M. Knows the terminology of both legal systems and delivers precise, consistent translations. Not to be confused with a lawyer: the translator translates, and does not advise on the law.
- Functional equivalence (a translation method)
- A method in which the translator picks the correct term of art in the target language rather than translating word for word. “Consideration” under common law, for example, is not rendered literally but with the German term that fits. Assessing the legal effect in the target market remains a matter for the lawyer.
- Flow-down clause
- A contractual cascade that makes sure the confidentiality obligations of the instructing firm are passed on to the translator doing the work. Standard practice in M&A and litigation.
- Certification (section 142 ZPO)
- The note from a sworn translator confirming that the translation is complete and correct. German courts and authorities recognise it as legally binding. Not the same thing as a notarial certification.
- Translation memory (TM)
- A database holding legal terms and contract clauses that have already been translated. It keeps terminology consistent across hundreds of disclosure schedules and brings cost down over time.
- E-discovery (electronic discovery)
- The process of identifying, collecting and reviewing electronically stored information (ESI) as evidence in court or antitrust proceedings. It needs very large capacity and secure translation workflows at the same time.