|
Abstracts
and Bios
Standard and Non-Standard Contract
Clauses
Legalese poses a number of challenges for the legal translator. This presentation
will provide participants with useful examples and information for translating
various contract provisions, with emphasis on the especially complicated
concepts such as torts, damages, indemnity clauses, and other similar
covenants. Explanations of in-context legal terms and clauses will also
be offered. The speaker encourages open participation and questions and
comments from attendees.
Daniel
Giglio received his Juris
Doctor and Legal Translator degrees from the University
of Buenos Aires and holds an MA in Conference Interpretation
(Spanish<>English) from the Monterey Institute of
International Studies (Monterey, CA). He was an adjunct
professor in the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) Legal
Translation Program where he taught a core course in legal
translation for eight years. He worked as an in-house
senior legal translator at Intermark Language Services
Corporation (Atlanta, GA) and, in that capacity, he taught
seminars in Houston and Atlanta on civil litigation for
translators in conjunction with the president of the company,
Thomas L. West, III. He is a federally certified court
interpreter (Spanish<>English) and works as a freelance
interpreter for a number of international organizations
such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-American
Defense Board, and the Organization of American States,
and for private market clients such as CNN en Español,
where he regularly provides freelance translation and
simultaneous interpreting services.
Untangling
the Tortuous Tapestry of Legal Discourse
Interpreters
and translators specializing in the judicial and/or legal
field must endure the rite-of-passage of learning legal
terminology in two languages that generally embodies two
separate legal systems. But rarely do we learn how all
those terms are put together, or why. What is it about
a legal system that makes lawyers and judges talk—or
write—in a particular way? How do all those legal
terms fit into the overall cultural constructs of justice?
How do we make them fit into the constructs of justice
from a different culture when we interpret or translate?
We learn terminology in isolation, by rote, and then proceed
to intuit the appropriate structure in which those terms
should be embedded. This presentation addresses the salient
characteristics of legal language as defined by Peter
Tiersma(1) and
other scholars—wordiness and redundancy, conjoined
phrases and lists of words, unusual sentence structures,
impersonal constructions, multiple negations—as
well as the peculiar characteristics of courtroom discourse—telegraphic
speech, use of legal slang and acronyms, code-switching
between legalese and plain English, among others. As we
identify the structure that holds together the obscure
language of the law, we will also identify ways to render
it more effectively and efficiently when we translate
or interpret.
1
Tiersma, Peter M. Legal Language. Chicago: U. of Chicago
Press, 1999.
Janis
Palma has been a federally-certified,
English<>Spanish judiciary interpreter since 1981.
She worked as an independent contractor for over 20 years
in different states, including Texas, New York, Florida,
and Washington, D.C. She holds a Master's Degree in Puerto
Rican Literature and History from the Centro de Estudios
Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, and a Bachelor's
Degree in Spanish Literature from the University of Texas
at Austin. Her work experience includes conference work
in the private sector and seminar interpreting for the
U.S. State Department. She
joined the U.S. District Courts in Puerto Rico as a full-time
staff interpreter in April 2002. She has also been
a consultant for various higher education institutions,
professional associations, and government agencies on
judiciary interpreting and translating issues. She is
a former President and now Life Member of the National
Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators,
and for the past 20 years has been conducting workshops,
participating in panel discussions, and offering lectures
on professional practice and responsibility, including
techniques to improve judiciary interpreting skills. She
was President of the Society for the Study of Translation
and Interpretation (SSTI) from February 2002 to October
2004, and is now Executive Director of The Mirta Vidal-Orrantia
Interpreting and Translating Institute, a special project
of SSTI created in honor of her dear friend and colleague,
who passed away in January 2004.
Does
It Mean What You Think It Means?
Some
legal acronyms and words are quite difficult to translate
or interpret because the concept behind the words is not
immediately apparent. Translators and interpreters can
make mistakes if they only think they know what
something means. As this session is non-language specific,
the concept behind over 30 sentences will be explained
in English so that participants can decide if what they
have written or thought in their own language was actually
appropriate or in error. Items will be taken from all
levels of courts (municipal, county, state, and federal)
as well as from other judiciary situations. Handouts will
include a worksheet for translation by participants with
room for notes and other materials listing legal resources
for various languages.
M.
Eta Trabing is from Buenos
Aires, Argentina. She holds a degree from Cambridge University,
England; she majored in languages and fine arts. Since
1956, she has been involved in translation services of
legal and commercial documents for large industries, court
proceedings, and federal and state agencies of all kinds.
After moving to the U.S. in 1963, she also became a conference
interpreter, then a federally and state certified court
interpreter. At this state, she prefers being a technical
translator and has given up traveling all over the Americas
at conferences large and small. She has published The
Manual for Judiciary Interpreters, The Pan American Livestock
Dictionary, The Dictionary of Foods and Cookery, and The
Glossary on Waste Management and Ecology. She is president
of Berkana, Inc., Center for Translation and Interpretation
Studies, a private school established in North Carolina
in 1996. She has been teaching translation and interpretation
off and on since the late 70s.
Part
I—TAJIT: Its Purpose and Function
Part II—The New Continuing Education Required by
the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
This
presentation will focus on two key changes in the world
of legal interpreting in Texas: The licensing requirement
and procedures and the new Texas Association of Judiciary
Interpreters and Translators (TAJIT). The how, why, and
when of licensing will also be discussed as well as the
options interpreters have when their languages are not
included.
Cristina
Helmerichs D. Bio coming...
The
Interpreter's Guide to the Vehicular Accident Lawsuit
Don't
be caught off guard by a simplistic approach to the vehicular
accident legal proceeding. With over 15 different types
of vehicular accidents possible, there are 18 different
procedures in which you could be needed to interpret and
testimony from a selection of over 36 different witnesses.
In order to provide competitive interpreting services,
it is important to be familiar with the procedures, participants,
terminology, and documentation requiring sight translation
that you may encounter in this field of law. This presentation
will introduce these components and offer a valuable road
map to follow for your next deposition, trial, or mediation.
Josef
F. Buenker, the author
of The Interpreter's Guide to the Vehicular Accident
Lawsuit (published by Multilingual Matters Limited),
received his J.D. from the University of Houston in May
1989 and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1989.
He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of
Texas, in the United States District Court, Southern,
Northern, Western, and Eastern Districts of Texas, and
the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. His memberships include
the Houston Bar Association and the National Association
of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT).
|
