Thus far the translation industry appears to be unable or unwilling to police itself effectively for quality. This has led to an interaction between translation and the law initiated on the part of the law and taking forms such as ISO 9000, the German product-liability law, and various court decisions. Many of these developments originated in Europe. In issue 2, 1987, of TextconText, Justa Holz-Mänttäri, a professor of translation in Finland, reports on one of the most important developments: a Swiss court case, which, when taken as a precedent, could have a major impact on the translation business in this country as well. The case, which revolves around translation quality, comes at the same time as several other legal developments relating to translation quality. This article summarizes the Swiss case, then looks at its potential implications as applied to the U.S. translation market, making passing mention of the other developments.