Terms and conditions of service.

Use of our services constitutes an agreement between Vega Interpreters, Inc. d/b/a Legal Translations, Inc. (hereinafter, Legal Translations) and You, the CLIENT (the law firm or scheduling party), and no third party. These terms and conditions are negotiable; however, any variation must be approved in writing by the President of Legal Translations, Inc.

The CLIENT agrees that interpreting, translations and work products of Legal Translations, Inc. shall be considered expert testimony and in-court statements, whether admitted or not, and as such, CLIENT agrees that Legal Translations shall be protected by expert witness immunity. CLIENT acknowledges that service providers such as Legal Translations, with limited profit margins, can only serve the courts and in high stakes cases, if strict limitations of liability exist that protect Legal Translations from liability disproportionate to its earning capacity. Hence the CLIENT agrees to limit Legal Translations’ liability arising from Legal Translations’ professional acts, errors or omissions such that the total liability of Legal Translations shall not exceed Legal Translations’ total fees paid for the services rendered on the project.

Rates and minimum fees per assignment will vary and will be agreed to prior to each assignment. Given the uncertain duration of many assignments, a quote for the minimum fee will be sent by Legal Translations prior to each job, which must be approved by CLIENT. Aside from the minimum rate, quotes will include a per hour rate (in the case of interpreting assignments) and per word rate (in the case of document translations). An invoice will be prepared by Legal Translations at the conclusion of each assignment which shall include the total amount to be paid by CLIENT based on the actual duration of the assignment. CLIENT agrees to pay this amount by the due date and understands this amount may exceed the original quoted minimum.

Cancellation deadlines of interpreting assignments will be established in a quote prior to each assignment as this varies based on language pair and geographic location. Once the cancellation period has lapsed, CLIENT agrees to be liable for all minimum fees quoted as well as any travel expenses, if applicable. Cancellations of document translations will be billed based on the number of words translated up to the moment of cancellation. The minimum fee for the language combination will also apply.

It is acknowledged that the CLIENT’s failure to pay invoices by the due date will cause Legal Translations to incur substantial economic damages and losses of types and in amounts which are impossible to compute and ascertain with certainty as a basis for recovery by Legal Translations of actual damages. Given that the billable amounts may vary greatly, Legal Translation’s collection costs, attorney’s fees and indirect damages would be difficult to ascertain. In the interest of equity and in order to limit CLIENT’s exposure, the parties agree that liquidated damages represent a fair, reasonable and appropriate estimate of actual damages. Accordingly, in lieu of actual damages, CLIENT agrees that liquidated damages may be assessed and recovered by Legal Translations as against CLIENT, in the event of non-payment and without Legal Translations being required to present any evidence of the amount or character of actual damages sustained by reason thereof; therefore CLIENT shall be liable to Legal Translations for payment of liquidated damages in the amount of DOUBLE the unpaid invoice amounts plus court costs and process service fees. Such liquidated damages are intended to represent estimated actual damages and are not intended as a penalty, but on the contrary, are limiting the CLIENT’s exposure which CLIENT acknowledges could otherwise be much greater.

This contract is governed by the laws of the State of Florida and any dispute shall be resolved by the courts of Miami-Dade County, Florida.