Request to provide ATA certification for translations that I review Thread poster: Paul Mielke
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Paul Mielke 
United States
Member (2017)
Spanish to English
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Hello. This past weekend I received a request from a well-regarded agency with good Blueboard reviews.
The agency said they would need translations for a large ongoing legal case to be certified by an ATA certified translator. They said the typical process would be to have a translator translate, and then another translator (ATA certified) review the translations and certify, stating that the translation is true and accurate, and then sign and date plus provide their ATA number. The... See more Hello. This past weekend I received a request from a well-regarded agency with good Blueboard reviews.
The agency said they would need translations for a large ongoing legal case to be certified by an ATA certified translator. They said the typical process would be to have a translator translate, and then another translator (ATA certified) review the translations and certify, stating that the translation is true and accurate, and then sign and date plus provide their ATA number. The agency said I wouldn’t need to state that I translated the work, but I would be certifying that the translation is a true and accurate rendition of the source file(s). And then they said an hourly rate would be preferable.
Has anyone ever received a request like this before? It's something that I've never come across before, but I wanted to get your perspective to make sure I'm thinking about all of the different factors that would need to be taken into account.
Thank you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | William Tierney
United States
Local time: 21:16
Member (2002)
Arabic to English
| Makes sense to me | May 8, 2023 |
Makes sense to me. Some jurisdictions (California) require an ATA-certified translator. Some clients may be well acquainted with the translation industry and demand it from the agency.
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 21:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
| An ethical gray area | May 8, 2023 |
I have been asked to do this before. I did so on a number of occasions - and then decided to stop doing it.
Bringing in the ATA-certified translator to proof and vouch for the translation at the end is something the agency does to save money.
In the end, the ATA-certified translator is being asked to make a false statement: to wit, that they have translated a document that they have merely reviewed.
The more I thought about this, the more uncomfortable it... See more I have been asked to do this before. I did so on a number of occasions - and then decided to stop doing it.
Bringing in the ATA-certified translator to proof and vouch for the translation at the end is something the agency does to save money.
In the end, the ATA-certified translator is being asked to make a false statement: to wit, that they have translated a document that they have merely reviewed.
The more I thought about this, the more uncomfortable it made me.
I prefer not to be a party to fraud. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Dubious, at best... | May 8, 2023 |
Paul Mielke wrote:
The agency said they would need translations for a large ongoing legal case to be certified by an ATA certified translator. They said the typical process would be to have a translator translate, and then another translator (ATA certified) review the translations and certify, stating that the translation is true and accurate ...
Did they also explain what the ATA certified translator is expected to do in the event that (s)he finds that the translation is NOT true and accurate?
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Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 21:16
Romanian to English
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| Dubious, at best (part 2) | May 8, 2023 |
Jennifer Levey wrote: Paul Mielke wrote:
The agency said they would need translations for a large ongoing legal case to be certified by an ATA certified translator. They said the typical process would be to have a translator translate, and then another translator (ATA certified) review the translations and certify, stating that the translation is true and accurate ...
Did they also explain what the ATA certified translator is expected to do in the event that (s)he finds that the translation is NOT true and accurate?
1. The ATA certification does not guarantee that the translator is specialized in the legal field, moreover, in a particular legal field. As a former prosecutor in my country, I am specialized in translation of legal documents in the criminal field, but wouldn't touch a contract or anything related to intellectual property.
2. There are language pairs for which there is no certification exams available. So .....
[Edited at 2023-05-09 01:18 GMT]
| | | | William Tierney
United States
Local time: 21:16
Member (2002)
Arabic to English
| Change if change you must | May 9, 2023 |
Robert Forstag wrote:
I have been asked to do this before. I did so on a number of occasions - and then decided to stop doing it.
Bringing in the ATA-certified translator to proof and vouch for the translation at the end is something the agency does to save money.
In the end, the ATA-certified translator is being asked to make a false statement: to wit, that they have translated a document that they have merely reviewed.
The more I thought about this, the more uncomfortable it made me.
I prefer not to be a party to fraud.
If Paul's client is insinuating that he should just slap his ATA logo to the certificate of accuracy, then I agree with you. I would take such an assignment as an editing assignment, and charge for it.
For the younger translators reading this, I always charge editing/proofing by the hour and never estimate how many words I will do by hour, which is just a back door per word rate. Some agencies will go to a non-native and very inexpensive translator for the draft, then expect you to "edit" (i.e. retranslate) at proofer rates. The agency can then tell their client that they had two translators work on the document. Charging a per-hour rate shuts the door on this trick.
| | | | Paul Mielke
United States
Member (2017)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you all for your input and providing your perspective on this issue. I really appreciate it.
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