This current research explores the concept of forensic linguistics from the perspective of translator training. Legal translation is a specialized discipline that represents one of the most frequently needed disciplines in the profession of translation, especially with the proliferation of multi-national organizations. The sensitivity of the area and the possible nefarious consequences grave mistakes can have make the related issues of training and competence more prominent than in other areas of expertise. The research adopts a threefold approach using the theoretical classification of legal translation typology, the nature and characteristics of legal language, and the exploration of legal translation difficulties to tackle the issue of legal translation equivalence. Using this theoretical framework, it analyzes exam scripts involving the translation of authentic legal texts. Research findings indicate that the structure of legal texts and the related issues of semantics and pragmatics coupled with cultural differences as well as differences in legal systems and laws call for more exhaustive efforts that teachers of translation and translator training programmes need to deploy. It then advocates what has been termed ad hoc knowledge acquisition, focusing on expanding students’ corpus-knowledge in terms of concepts and lexicon which are related to the field of law.

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