Localizing Legal Agreements for Different Markets – Challenges and

Best PracticesSusanne Grohé, Senior Legal Counsel,

PayPal

Agenda

• Purpose of standard legal agreements• Challenges when localizing legal agreements– Legal terms don‘t translate– Different (legal) cultures and styles

• Best Practices - some examples– Guiding Principles– Don‘t translate – re-create!– Making it simple (even though it‘s not)

Purpose of standard legal agreement

• Companies want to offer uniform product globally

• Simplification by offering on basis of one set of standard legal terms

• Choice of „home state“ law• May address consumer as well as business

partner

Purpose of standard legal agreement

• In reality – there is no truly global legal agreement

• Local laws often supersede choice of law, in particular consumer protection laws or criminal law

• Understanding of other party is always pre-determined by local law

Challenges

• Legal terms don‘t translate– It starts with …….the „law“• What is it? Precedent cases, statutory laws,

regulations…

– Another example… „consideration“• Prerequisite for anglo-american contracts to be binding• Unknown concept for continental European

jurisdictions

Challenges

• Example: „Recurring payment by direct debit“– Lastschrift? Abbuchungsvereinbarung?

Bankeinzug?

• Example: „balance“– Kontostand, Guthaben, Saldo?

Challenges

• Different legal culture and style– (Anglo-American) legal language can be…• Lengthy – possible to shorten?• without interpunctuation – possible to introduce?• „Redundant“ for European taste

– Examples: » „to indemnify and hold harmless“ » „to cancel, annul and set aside a contract“» „including but not limited to“

Best Practices

• Guiding Principles– Who needs to understand the agreement?– Which judge is likely to interpret the agreement?– Where is local law superseding?– Local adaptations of the product?

Best Practices

• Don‘t translate – re-create!– Re-write the standard terms in local language with

the help of a lawyer– Do „local original“ first then re-translate in global

language– Delete redundancies but keep differentiations

Best Practices

• Making it simple (even though it is not!)– Use simple language. Try to balance „normal“

language with „must have“ legal terms– Use content management system if available for

easy changes– Finding your own words (or use translation of EU

Directives and Regulations)

Any Questions?