Do you often hear that “less is more” and find it a cliché?
Do you feel as a translator that less is loss?
There are ways to create value in focusing on a hybrid specialisation without being a generalist.
Last week I’d an annual meeting with my friends and translation colleagues in London during which we did our inventory and see what’s in demand in the translation market and what we like to focus on to differentiate our services. I found out that arbitration procedures still requires a lot of translation when two parties are from different countries and using different languages than the one used at the agreed arbitration centre for instance. London is a famous hub for financial intuitions and a focal location for financial litigations and foreign financial institutions. This is where I started my career and still have many customers who are involved in Arab-British trade or are joint financial institutions or British financial institutions selling their product to the Arab market.
A legal translator with a background in finance can serve clients and specialised LSPs by focusing on positioning themselves as a legal translator for financial institutions and clients. It’s not always about litigations. As a financial translator, you can also be involved in translating hybrid texts including banks regulations, terms and conditions, agreements. Law firm financing involves foreign investors in various jurisdictions. So, the paperwork relevant to funding requires translation and certification/notarisation.
And in less there’s still more to translate for:
1. Corporate clients:
– Arbitration
– Corporate litigations
– Regulatory and governance
– Notarized financial reports, balance sheets, annual and due diligence reports
– Audits
– Law firm financing
– Banks regulations (e.g. T&C)
2. Private clients:
– Application for mortgages by foreigners
– Assets registration by foreigners
This isn’t an extensive list. But you can realise that in doing less there’s still more to offer while positioning yourself as a specialist, being more efficient and generate more income with long term customers.
