Why an agency keeps a glossary: a case of a 200-page contract
We received a framework supply agreement with annexes and specifications — about 200 pages, one week. One translator physically cannot do that volume in a week, which means three or four work in parallel. And here, without a shared terminology base, inconsistency sets in: one translates "поставка" as delivery, another as supply; "расторжение" is termination for one and cancellation for another; "the party in breach of its obligations" becomes now the defaulting party, now the party in breach. In a legal text this is not a matter of style — these are different meanings that the parties then have to answer for.
How it works technically
Before the start, the lead translator or editor builds a glossary: 100–300 key terms of the contract with a fixed translation and, where needed, a comment. The terms from the contract's own "Definitions" section come first — "Goods", "Parties", "Force Majeure", "Confidential Information": they must read the same across all 200 pages and in every annex.
Then translation memory comes into play — a system that shows the translator how a similar fragment has already been translated in this same project and highlights discrepancies between contributors in real time. The final stage is a full editorial pass by one person: the editor goes through the whole document, aligns the terminology, checks cross-references ("in accordance with clause 7.3"), the numbering of clauses and annexes. Without that step, a translation assembled from pieces always stays "patchwork".
What this gives the client
Legal uniformity: one concept — one term across the whole text, no "synonyms" that the counterparty's lawyer can read in their own favour. Speed and price on future documents: when an addendum to the same contract arrives, the glossary and memory are ready — the translation will be faster, cheaper, and consistent with the main text. And the ability to step in: if your company has settled translations of terms or preferences on spelling, they are entered into the glossary before work begins.
On large orders, ask the agency directly: do you keep a glossary and do you do a final full editorial pass by one editor? If the answer is evasive, you risk ending up with a text you will have to proofread yourself.