If you need a translation or have any questions about translations, please feel free to contact me or to have a look around this site.

My own speciality is first and foremost legal translation (including the overlap legal/finance), from Dutch into English and vice versa. In addition, I have considerable experience in translating a wide variety of business and general texts.
However, this site offers more than just my own translation skills. As the sidebar shows, you can find answers to general questions such as; "What is a sworn translation?" and in-depth knowledge about a selection of legal terms. This knowledge has been acquired by me in a variety of ways over many years, see "About me". Below, under "Did you know?", you will find some surprising and amusing facts about legal translation.
From time to time, I may offer new information on this site. This will be listed as such.

• That although there are many jokes about translating "onderneming" as "undertaking" (a funeral parlour) into English, undertaking is actually the word used in EU texts for what is normally called an "enterprise". It is also good legal English for, for instance, a formal pledge or promise.
• In England, a bailiff is concerned with law enforcement. In the US, a bailiff is a court official in charge of keeping order! [More about this under "General observations", towards the end].
• Palm Tree Justice is a well-known term in English law, associated in particular with the late judge Lord Denning. Lord Denning was renowned for his dissenting (i.e. minority) opinions, often taking a liberal approach to the law. As time went by, his views were often adopted, after all, in later cases!
• By-law in British legal English usually refers to local laws. In American English, it is often used to refer to the internal regulations of a company. The word "by" in this context probably originates in the Northern Germanic or Scandinavian languages. "By" still is the word for town in those languages and in England it can still be found in old town names such as "Derby".

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