About
Blackline Translations Ltd. delivers industry-leading translations to the legal and business community. A boutique translation provider established in Toronto, Canada in 2017, the limited company grew out of the sole proprietorship operated by Kenneth McKerrow under his own name from 2007 onward. After ten great years in the business and heeding feedback from clients, the time was ripe to take the next step. Blackline adds value in the fields of contract law, IP litigation, technical marketing, patent specifications and EPO communications. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, all translations are executed personally by Kenneth McKerrow, who passed the certification exam to become ATA-certified in the German to English language pair in 2009.
The company’s name is derived from the “legal blackline” function offered in some word processors, which compares two documents and displays only the changes between them. Blackline stands for precisely this assiduous line-by-line research, translation and review of complex documents with far-reaching consequences.
Get in touch
Blackline Translations Ltd. looks forward to hearing from you! Please call or email to speak directly to Kenneth McKerrow to obtain a binding quotation and delivery deadline on your job.
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Personnel
ceo
Kenneth McKerrow
Born to a Canadian father and an American mother in Ottawa, Canada in 1981, Kenneth grew up in the bilingual capital of Canada where he received a fully bilingual French-English education. After relocating to suburbs of Washington D.C. in 1998, Kenneth became active in Model UN and Model OAS, which provided a foundation in international affairs. In 2001, he briefly worked at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. in the Congressional and Legal Affairs section, working closely with Embassy staff to monitor legislation and developments of interest to Canada.
University studies in Art History in Toronto (B.A 2005) led to a year abroad in Germany, where Kenneth studied at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. There he discovered his love of the German culture and people while also becoming fluent in German in order to study at the university level. He was awarded the Kleines Deutsches Sprachdiplom (KDS) by the Goethe Institut in 2007, then passed the ATA certification exam in German to English in 2009. After beginning a bilingual German-English position at a leading medical marketing research firm in Toronto in 2007, Kenneth began translating part-time on the side. After completing his Master’s degree in 2009, he transitioned to translating full-time; he worked on medical devices and pharmaceutical trials while beginning to establish his foundation in translating EU regulatory documentation. During this time he travelled frequently to and within Germany for business as well as personal reasons.
During his work for numerous highly-rated agencies (and a few direct clients) over the next decade, Kenneth consolidated a large body of professional knowledge relating to intellectual property; commercial law and litigation; mechanical and electrical engineering; as well as marketing and copy writing. McKerrow’s strengths include strong attention to detail, personalized service, the desire and capacity to understand complex information systems and an intuitive grasp of the clearest way to communicate any given message.
Education
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
M.A., Art History & Theory 2009
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
B.A., Art History, 2005
Memberships & Affiliations
•Voting Member, American Translators Association (ATA)
Certifications
• ATA certified in German to English