Clients sometimes need a suite of inter-related documents. This might be a series of contracts, policies and schedules for suppliers, licensees or a sales team.
Simply translating a set of existing documents will rarely work well. Over time, contracts can become a patchwork of amendments and additions. This can render them difficult to read and create inconsistency within the document itself but also between the various documents in that suite. Translating these documents will simply replicate (or even amplify) these shortcomings. The client may also feel it is time to update its contracts to reflect recent national or EU legislation. They may also want to achieve a more readable, approachable and consistent language across the entire suite of documents.
Commercial contracts
We have supported clients in drawing up complex suites of documents. Broadly, the process will involve the following steps.
- Review existing suite of documents and explore aims and intentions. We will discuss, for example, client base, territorial considerations, known problems with existing contracts including adverse user feedback or disputes.
- Identify whether the suite is to constitute original documents and in which jurisdiction. This will help establish the need for legal and language localisation.
- Gather all relevant documents including in-house style guides, internal policies, source-language versions and precedent documents.
- Establish an architecture and hierarchy of the documents contained in the suite.
- Discuss and establish key terminology. This may need to reflect current corporate use and reflect an existing in-house style. In other cases, there may be a desire to draft documents that apply plain, modern use of language. We will identify the target audience for the documents to ensure that tonality is appropriate.
- Produce a skeleton and initial draft. Stress-test consistency within and between the constituent documents. Ideally a client focus-group will be used at this stage to invite feedback.
- The production of final draft documents will involve a considered blend of translation, the drafting of original text, judicious use of relevant boilerplates and the localisation of relevant clauses.
- Drafting of any user-guides, limitations or waivers. Definition of hierarchy and precedence of documents etc.
- Quality control and final stress-testing.
The process ensures that we can provide a modern, functional suite of contracts that is commercially viable and legally compliant.