Independent researcher
United Kingdom
[email protected]

I carry out highly interdisciplinary research in a constellation of fields around law and language, bringing extensive experience as a legal translation practitioner, where my key achievements include the translation of: documents for G20 meetings; major cases in corporate litigation, AML, white-collar crime, banking, and Financial Intelligence Unit reports; 2,500 pages of EU legislation; correspondence between heads of state; and the co-translation of the book Revolution by French President Emmanuel Macron.

As a researcher, I have contributed articles to international journals as well as book chapters, and in 2019 my monograph, Legal Translation Outsourced, was published by Oxford University Press.

I have been a visiting lecturer in Denmark, Croatia, France and Italy, and in the UK at Bristol, London, Oxford, and the School of Oriental & African Studies, including for dissertation supervision and external expert consultancy. I act as reviewer for various specialized journals, for book chapters, and for publishers.

My research interests include the impacts of legal translation outside institutions; constraints on and performance of legal translation; comparative law & legal translation; legal translation and organized crime; and legal translators’ agency, status and professionalization.

As a regular speaker at conferences around the world, including giving plenaries and keynotes, I have a very diverse network of colleagues, and am committed to reinforcing links between academia and practice, for example through my blog and associated events, and to working across disciplines.

Selected Publications

• Scott, J., O’Shea, J. 2021. How legal documents translated outside institutions affect lives, businesses and the economy. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique.
• Scott, J. 2019. Legal Translation Outsourced. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reviews: by M. Rosario Martín Ruano in Translation Studies, by J. O’Shea in Estudios de Traducción; and by H. Walters-Steinberg.
• Scott, J. 2018. Specifying Levels of (C)overtness in Legal Translation Briefs. In Ingrid Simmonaes & Marita Kristiansen (Eds.), Legal translation (studies) as a challenge / Herausforderungen an das Rechtsübersetzen. Berlin: Frank & Timme.
• Scott, J. 2018. An Online Survey as a Means to Research the ‘Outstitutional’ Legal Translation Market. In Łucja Biel, Jan Engberg, Vilelmini Sosoni and Rosario Marino Ruano (Eds.), Research Methods in Legal Translation and Interpreting Crossing Methodological Boundaries. London: Routledge.
• Scott, J. 2018. Negotiating Constraints on Legal Translation Performance in an Outsourced Environment. In Girolamo Tessuto, Vijay K. Bhatia, & Jan Engberg (Eds.), Frameworks for Discursive Actions and Practices of the Law. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
• Scott, J. 2018. The Pivotal Role of Legal Translation Practitioners in the Fight Against Cross- Border Organised Crime. The European Review of Organised Crime, 4(2), 147-164.
• Scott, J. 2017. Legal Translation – A Multidimensional Endeavour. Comparative Legilinguistics: International Journal for Legal Communication, 32, 37-66.
• Scott, J. 2017. The Pernicious Effects of Terms Used For and By the Legal Translation Profession. Revista de Llengua i Dret: From Legal Translation to Jurilinguistics, 68, 57-75.
• Scott, J. 2017. Legal Translation Training – A Way Forward for Aspiring Lawyers in a Clogged Job Market? Tilburg Law Review, Special issue on Translating Law, 22, 215-235.
• Scott, J. 2016. How Legal Translation Studies Research Might Assist Lawyers with Best Procurement Practice. In Geert Jacobs & Glen M. Alessi (Eds.), The Ins and Outs of Business and Professional Discourse Research: Reflections on Interacting with the Workplace. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Award for Distinguished Publication on Business Communication.