By Emanuel Weisgras, Esq. – founder and CEO of Weis Words International Translations
In today’s global economy, we are becoming more and more dependent on translation to help us communicate with others around the world. Whether it be for our daily social interactions, tourism, or international business, the need for legal and business translation has grown.

Enter Machine Translation
Enter machine translation. This free translation medium, offering international corporations and law firms readily accessible – and free! – translation, allows you to converse and correspond with clients and review documents. One of the best known and most popular is Google Translate™, followed closely by Bing Translate and several others. Even more exciting is the recent news of real-time audio translation devices, a la Star Trek™ and other popular sci-fi shows. Zero cost, zero hassle. Right?
Absolutely WRONG! Give them a wide berth. At best, you end up with a ridiculous, poorly worded translation which is good for a laugh when sharing with friends (remember the “Clitoris Festival” in Galicia, Spain? For professional purposes, the results could be disastrous. For example, when you plug Section 3(a1) of the Israel Civil Procedure Regulations – 1984 into Google Translate, this is what you get:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a), the plaintiff was the business of the branches, and one of them is in the jurisdiction where the residence or place of business of the defendant, the claim shall be submitted to the court in that jurisdiction.” – Can you imagine that in your contract? I rest my case.