This brief considers the challenges of a dispersed contract translation model, uncovers the most reliable solution to quality management and explains how to establish an efficient and effective global contract translation process.

1. 1
​Largely because of the sensitivity of cross-border contracts
such as M&As, EULAs, etc., quality is one of the major risks
that can derail an effective global contract translation
process.
​To deliver fast, dependable, contract translation, you must
strike harmony between local proficiency along with the
competitive advantages of centralizing critical operations.
​There’s little question that local assets possess vital insights
into their marketplaces. Equally, it’s true that virtually no
organization gains by confronting the same exact problem
fifty different ways, in fifty various locales, repeatedly.
​This brief considers the challenges of a
dispersed contract translation model, uncovers
the most reliable solution to quality
management and explains how to establish an
efficient and effective global contract
translation process.
The Guide to High-Quality
Multi-Region Contract Translation
www.viadelivers.com

2. UNDERSTANDING THE QUALITY CHALLENGES
​Decentralized control – For many
global companies, the contract
translation process is handled from
local offices, but a dispersed model
like this often impedes consistency and
transparency, along with the
organization’s capacity to deliver fast,
dependable contract translation.
​Regionalized control – Some
companies establish regional groups to
perform checks and balances. This
model is more efficient in the
organization’s capacity to deliver than
that from the local level; however,
there remain disadvantages from lack
of redundancy, consistency,
transparency, and ability to maximize
the true volume of your translations for
savings.
Centralized control – Where your
legal translation process is managed
from one central location or team,
rendering all the pieces transparent:
costs, timelines, and quality. Here you
gain improved quality, predictability,
consistency, utilization of resources
and the competitive advantage for the
organization to react to emerging
markets and obstacles.
THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION
It is not uncommon for divisions of the very same business to be translating comparable
documents, applying assorted approaches, and using different suppliers.
www.viadelivers.com
The most common models for managing global contracts are:
The advantages of a central approach include easy scalability,
transparency, cost projections and risk containment. For you,
this also creates dependable multilingual contracts with
consistency, repeatability, and high levels of accuracy.
Naturally, this strategy is only as good as your language
service provider.

3. UNDERSTANDING THE QUALITY CHALLENGES
​Stylistic incongruences –
There is a consistency consideration
to translations and contracts, but
ultimately, certain terms will not
impact the legal effect of the
agreement. Corrective measure lies
with terminology and style guides.
​It is rather improbable you
will possess total “natural”
consensus across fifty
countries with 200+
individuals touching contracts
and because of this, there are
common reoccurring issues
that arise during the global
contract process.
​Source Document Consistency –
Translation is reasonably a “rubbish in
rubbish out process.” If there is an
issue in the source contract that isn’t
captured until after it is translated, and
let’s say it costs $100 to correct for
each language, the expenditures
accumulate quickly. So, it’s a good
idea to expand corrective measures to
source control processes, as well as
glossary and style guide adoption.
​Egregious errors –
Inaccurately conveying terms cause
some of the legal foundation of the
contract to be lost. Corrective action
involves translation team auditing,
quality defect reporting and ultimately,
team replacement.
Approximately 75% of contract
translation falls into this category.
Typically less than 5% of errors fall into
this category , with the majority being
spelling and grammar challenges.
THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION
www.viadelivers.com

4. ESTABLISHING A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
​Establishing a quality management system enables you to
fasten, harness and concentrate the collective effort and
resources of the extensive global team in a singular
collaborative track. Done correctly, local entities retain their
influence in a fresh, proven model that is superior in
everything from quality and cost-efficiency, to uniformity and
reliability.
Benefits of Centralized Contract
Translation
• Centralized management with local validation
• Little or no redundancy, optimal transparency
• Uniformly superior quality
• Ability to synchronize initiatives across market
segments
• Optimal use of linguistic assets
• Projection of a single, homogeneous message
globally
• Freeing local workforce for strategic function
• Competitive benefit through enhanced control
• Trustworthy access to the partner’s worldwide
resources
THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION
www.viadelivers.com

5. HOW TO ROLL OUT AN EFFECTIVE GLOBAL CONTRACT TRANSLATION
PROCESS
Though change is not easy, the quality, speed and cost
advantages of a centralized contract translation process,
managed through a globally capable partner, are too
significant to ignore.
The legal translation cycle requires many steps, due to the
often technical and precise nature of the content. So, the
more you can centralize and automate workflow, the faster
you’ll achieve contract delivery.
That said, your in-country stakeholders may not want to
relinquish control. So, you will need to gain their buy-in
and approval upfront. One way to do this is to incorporate
the regional level in review and approval opportunities, so
you can ensure quality contract translation in a timely
fashion.
It is through collaboration with your language service provider and existing local experts that
you will be able to produce the most effective global contract translation solution.
THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION
www.viadelivers.com

6. 1 2 3 4 5
Step
6 7 8 9 10
Step
Youmeetwithregional
controllerstointroducea
centralizedapproach
andspecializedlegal
languageservice
provider(LSP)
LSPcreatesEnglish
Glossariesofkeyterms
fromsource
YouconfirmkeyEnglish
termsarecomplete
LSPcreatesStyleGuides
basedonexisting
contractbase
Youdeterminein-
countryreviewersand
establishfeedback
channelforStyleGuides
andGlossaries
LSPtranslatesagreed
Englishtermsintotarget
languages
Youreviewtranslated
termsandconfirmfinal
selections
LSPupdatestermsinto
centralGlossaryand
publishesitviawebor
emailwithprojects
YoureviewStyleGuides
perregionandprovide
feedback
YouandLSPconsider
populatingTranslation
Memory(TM)to
“OptimalAssetSize”
AN IDEAL STEP-BY-STEP OVERVIEW FOR REGION/COUNTRY ROLL OUT
THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION
www.viadelivers.com

7. 11 12 13 14 15
16
Step
YouandLSPestablish
reportingmetricsand
style
YouandLSPestablish
theapproachfor
managingandresolving
qualityissuesand
presenttoteam
YouandLSPestablish
processforongoing
managementof
Glossary–updatingand
reflectingrequiredand
approvedchanges
YouandLSPestablish
processforongoing
additionstoTMand
StyleGuidereflecting
requiredandapproved
changes
YouandLSPestablish
Weekly/Monthly
regionalreviewofmetric
reportingincluding
progressiontooptimum
assetsize,qualityscoring
andactivitylevel
YouandLSPestablish
ongoingqualityreview
andescalationcycle
Step
AN IDEAL STEP-BY-STEP OVERVIEW FOR REGION/COUNTRY ROLL OUT
THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION
www.viadelivers.com

8. ​Centralizing legal translation does not make sense
for every corporation, so how do you know if it
makes sense for yours?
​A good rule of thumb is, if your organization spends upward of
$200K per year on legal content only, you will realize savings and
benefit from the consistency and quality that centralization brings.
The ROI of centralization tends to grow along with spending. For
example, companies averaging $2-5M per year on legal content
translation will often see a higher percentage of savings than
companies spending $1M per year. See how VIA helped one
world-leading software company streamline its global
contract process.
ARE YOU A CANDIDATE FOR CENTRALIZED LEGAL TRANSLATION
MANAGEMENT?
About VIA
VIA is a trusted provider of legal translation services to leading
brands around the globe including Cisco, Oracle, Google, Nike,
Walmart, HP, Expedia and more.
Contact Us
To learn more about VIA Legal translation
solutions or how VIA can help your organization
achieve improved translation processes, contact
us at 1-800-737-8481 or visit us online at
www.viadelivers.com.
THE GUIDE TO HIGH-QUALITY MULTI-REGION CONTRACT TRANSLATION