An Interview About Zombie Contracts

Have you ever wondered about those terms you are being asked to sign? Ever seen something that sent you running for the hills? I don’t know about you, but I have. Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz calls these “zombie contracts”, and he seems to know a bit about them. So I invited him for an interview to tell us all about them. 

Hi Łukasz,

You’re a highly respected English <> Polish legal translator with a way with words many native English-speakers would be proud of. On top of this, you’re a highly trained lawyer. I know you’re especially interested what you call “zombie contracts”, and I’d be delighted if you could tell us all a little more about them.

First off, I hope I gave you a satisfactory introduction, but perhaps you’d like to tell us a little about yourself and your background in your own words.

Thank you, Rose, you did me too much favour with your flattering introduction. I’ve been interested in zombie contracts for a while, though it’d be hard to give an exact explanation as to why. Since I don’t actually practice the law these days, I guess I need an outlet. Besides, they’re also interesting on an intellectual level. Plus, I take issue with these things. I wish they would just go away. I know translators don’t always understand them but are asked to, and frequently do, sign them. I want to level the field by bringing these issues into daylight. Talk about them. Explain them.

By the way, this isn’t a war on translation agencies, just in case anyone gets this sort of an idea. Agencies get asked to sign contracts too, and some of these contain really ugly stuff like you wouldn’t believe. This is intended for them, too...

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