@Linguist_CIOL
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER The Linguist 25
FEATURES
relevant government departments and public
organisations, such as GovHK, Bilingual Laws
Information System (BLIS) and the Securities
and Futures Commission's 'An English-
Chinese Glossary of Securities, Futures and
Financial Terms'. These are reliable and
authoritative sources.
When I was asked to translate a document
relating to intellectual property, for example,
I had to use the website of the Intellectual
Property Department. I was translating the
names of various types of goods from
English into Chinese, and it was important to
use the official Chinese names provided on
the website.
In-house scrutiny
In-house translations are reviewed by a
translation manager or senior translator, and
solicitors or trainee solicitors. In most cases,
the work will be delivered to the client after
their vetting, but in urgent cases we may
need to send the translation directly to the
client. Even with 18 years' experience, I
understand that my translation may be
edited, sometimes by a trainee solicitor
with much less work experience than me.
As translators, we have to admit that we
don't have their professional knowledge in
law. An understanding of basic legal and
financial concepts will certainly aid our
interpretation of the text, but even a
translated sentence that we think is
impeccable can be further refined and
improved. The main point is accuracy.
We may also need to share our translation
work with trainee solicitors or colleagues in
other China offices. Cooperation is essential,
not just within a translation department, but
also in a wider team of colleagues.
The working hours of a translator at a
Hong Kong law firm vary. The basic hours are
often 9am to 6pm, but overtime is inevitable
– and routine during peak season. For me,
this falls in March and April, as I work for the
financial group of an international firm, and
this is the time to finalise the base listing
documents of structured products. Many
firms pay their translators for overtime with
the approval of supervisors and partners.
One important point is that translators
working at a law firm are fee earners like
lawyers. The fees are based on time rather
than the number of words or pages. This
means that they charge clients higher fees
than financial translation companies. Law firm
translators can therefore have good job
security in so far as they provide a stable
income to the firms they work for.
The remuneration of an in-house legal
translator is good compared to other sectors.
However, the satisfaction you get after
correctly interpreting a long, complicated
English sentence, or managing to render the
meaning of a Chinese sentence which is hard
to express in English, is more rewarding than
any financial gain.
INSIDE THE LAW
(Clockwise from top left): Teamwork is vital
for in-house legal positions; Hong Kong skyline;
defendants outside West Kowloon Law Courts;
the High Court; the Court of Appeal; and (centre)
working at a law firm with a view of the harbour
PHOTOS
©
SHUTTERSTOCK
ENTRANCE
OF
THE
HIGH
COURT
IN
ADMIRALTY,
WPCPEY
(CC
BY-SA
4.0)
