Editors' Introduction: Legal translation and interpreting: between old and new theoretical, discursive and professional perspectives

The legal field has always been a very fertile market for translators and inter-preters alike. The professional practices of legal translators and interpreters inboth the public (national and international) and the private sectors, the settingswhere such practices are performed and their purpose, as well as the challengesposed by the need to communicate across languages, cultures and legal systemsare just some of the almost endless research areas falling within LegalTranslation and Interpreting Studies that have attracted considerable attentionfrom both theoretical and empirical fronts, especially in recent years.The selection of papers dealing with different aspects related to translationand interpreting in the legal field which have been collected in this Special Issueprovides further proof of the multifaceted nature and complexity of LegalTranslation and Interpreting Studies. Most of the papers were originally pre-sented at the International Conference "Translation and Interpreting: Convergence,Contact, Interaction" held at the University of Trieste (Italy) on 26-28 May 2016. The main idea of the Conference was to explore and create opportunities forcontact and comparison between specialists in the fields of translation andinterpreting in terms of research, teaching and professional practice.