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Relativity’s Translate Tool: First Look at the Use Cases & Considerations from Director of Advanced Analytics, Josh Treat

Published on August 17, 2023

Josh Treat

As a seasoned litigation support specialist with 15+ years of experience, Josh has saved millions of dollars in review costs through the development of proprietary assisted review workflows in a variety of platforms. In addition, Josh leverages quantitative forecasting and rigorous, best-in-class project management tools for on-time, under-budget completion of complex litigation review. Josh's position has allowed me to wear many hats in my career – project manager, developer, consultant, technical support, sales, and even translator. He speaks fluent geek, salesperson, trainer, and difficult client. As a result, Josh has a unique ability to help manage and navigate large complex projects with creative custom solutions to meet any budget or timeline requirements.

What is Translate and Why Does It Matter?   

In today’s world, businesses operate on a global scale which has made multi-language document collections more and more common in discovery matters. RelativityOne’s Translate tool promises reviewers a best in-class solution to seamlessly and securely translate documents without ever leaving the platform, saving teams both time and money while also reducing risk.   

Strategies Prior to Relativity Translate 

In the past, Acorn has relied on third-party tools to accommodate our client’s translation needs with varying levels of success. Vetting new tools, negotiating pricing, transferring data back and forth, and invoicing has been cumbersome and often led to unexpected delays. With translation capabilities embedded directly into RelativityOne, this simplifies our process while also creating more efficient and secure workflows for our clients. Translate has allowed our clients to: 

  • Translate documents to over 100 languages as they review without any long delays. 
  • View translated documents in their native format preserving important context. 
  • Translate multi-language documents with one pass without having to identify the source language. 
  • Reduce risk by eliminating the need to transfer documents to/from third parties. 

Relativity Translate Use Cases 

At Acorn, we generally use translation tools as part of our first pass review. The ability to quickly identify, translate, search/filter and conduct a preliminary review on multi-language collections without ever leaving RelativityOne has really streamlined our review process. With many translations available in native format, even if not perfect, our review teams are able to utilize the translation in tandem formats to help determine relevance. Review is expensive, especially for expert reviewers who are proficient across multiple languages, so cutting down on the number of documents that need a second pass review has led to significant cost and time savings for our clients. 

Pitfalls of Relativity Translate 

When working with tools like RelativityOne’s Translate, the first thing to keep in mind is rarely are the translations going to be perfect. Even with continuous advancements in technology, there are several considerations and potential pitfalls to watch out for. Here are a few key items to keep in mind which may affect the accuracy of your translations: 

  • Ambiguity: Many words and phrases have multiple meanings, and context is often required to determine the correct translation. 
  • Idioms and Cultural Nuances: Idioms, cultural references, and linguistic nuances can be difficult to translate accurately. These elements often don’t have direct equivalents in other languages, leading to awkward or incorrect translations. 
  • Complex Documents: Translation of complex documents, such as legal or technical documents, due to the specialized vocabulary and terminology used in these types of texts can be troublesome. 
  • OCR Accuracy: OCR documents in foreign languages may be inaccurate as the tool may not pick up on accent marks on letters. If there are typos within a document, those may also affect the accuracy of the translation. 

If you would like to learn more or see a demo of Relativity Translate, please feel free to reach out to me at Josh.Treat@AcornLS.com. I am also happy to discuss how this technology may work for your case, or exchange thoughts on what other technology in the market may fit your situation.    

About Josh:  

As a seasoned litigation support specialist with 15+ years of experience, Josh has saved millions of dollars in review costs through the development of proprietary assisted review workflows in a variety of platforms. Josh has been involved in numerous landmark cases that leverage Advanced Analytics. In addition, Josh leverages quantitative forecasting and rigorous, best-in-class project management tools for on-time, under-budget completion of complex litigation review. He speaks fluent geek, salesperson, trainer, and difficult client. As a result, Josh has a unique ability to help manage and navigate large complex projects with creative custom solutions to meet any budget or timeline requirements. Josh is a Certified Relativity Master and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems from Central Michigan University.  

About Acorn:  

Acorn is a legal data consulting firm that specializes in AI and Advanced Analytics for litigation applications, while providing rigorous customer service to the eDiscovery industry. Acorn primarily works with large regional, midsize national and boutique litigation firms. Acorn provides a high-touch, customized litigation support services with a heavy emphasis on seamless communications. For more information, please visit www.acornls.com.