Ethical Price Reduction & Heroic Effort
An elderly Chinese couple from Hong Kong issued proceedings in Melbourne Country Court against their accountant daughter for failure to return the money held on trust. The elder couple were in their 60s and they migrated to Australia a few years ago to live with their daughter and son-in-law. They remitted their life savings to the daughter’s home loan account before coming to Australia.When the two generations did not get on, the elderly couple wanted to move out and ask for their money back to buy their own property. Their daughter and son-in-law refused and claimed that the money was a gift.
Ethical Price Reduction
We took on this case on compassion ground with a discounted quote when they were referred by a colleague. We also agreed to change our billing process from advance payment to payment after judgement.
Our Cantonese court interpreter met with them at the barrister’s chamber. The couple were upset with what the daughter and son-in-law had done to them, and at the same time anxious about whether the judge would believe in their story. Given the barrister’s preoccupation with ascertaining the details of facts and various other technical tasks, our interpreter took it upon us to provide them with emotional support and general information such as the court process, the difference between affirmation and oath, the importance of full disclosure to their lawyers and how to answer questions in court.
The plaintiff wife gave evidence on the first day. As the case largely rests on credibility, our interpreter made good use of her note-taking skills to maintain an accurate record of her evidence without interrupting her witness’s flow of thoughts too often, and only signaled her to stop when absolutely necessary. The rapport between the interpreter and the witness allowed the witness to feel a sense of security and confidence in being herself in the witness stand. [More about our legal interpreting service]
Heroic Effort
When some unexpected evidence came up later that day, our interpreter was able to work over night to provide a summary translation of the court documents from China and email them to the barrister. The barrister therefore had the chance to read them and asked clients questions before the second day of the hearing. The barrister used the word ‘heroic effort by our interpreter’ when describing it to the judge in open court. [More about our translation process]
The case settled two days into the hearing. Everyone gave their best shot. We have learnt so much about how to manage clients to work towards goal of the legal team. We also discounted our bills significantly as it was the right thing to do in this case.
Testimonials
Translators from Good Story Chinese Translation have assisted us on not only translating the language, but also deciphering Chinese business culture, which has been invaluable to my company. I look forward to many years with them interpreting for us
Bidgeebong Wines has used both the translation and interpreting services of Good Story Chinese Translation House on a number of projects. May Chen and her colleagues provided excellent interpreting services with a high level of enthusiasm and with a strong sense of ownership to our company’s interest. Translation services were provided accurately and on-time with
We highly appreciate the awesome translation jobs that you have provided to our company for the last 5 years. Most of the translation is immigration related. Your meticulously crafted translation is of high quality and you never missed a deadline. We look forward to working with you in years to come.
I was impressed with the ease with which Yinfeng translated. You enabled me to set a rhythm that was comfortable and natural. Your English is very fluent and you picked up on the vernaculars making an easy bridge between myself and the group…I feel we made a very effective team. Thank you.
Your experience is wide ranging and your service is thorough and efficient. I will highly recommend it to anyone.
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