The ATC’s Member of the Month in January 2026 is Avocate Legal and Business French Interpreting and Translation Services, a Manchester-based company with a tightly defined niche in legal and business interpreting and translation. Working exclusively in the French–English language pair, Avocate combines subject-matter expertise with a strong professional presence in both the UK and France.

We caught up with Avocate’s founder, lawyer-linguist Sue Leschen, to talk about building a dedicated niche-market business, finding value in ATC membership, and contributing to the development of industry standards.

A specialised service with a clearly defined focus

Avocate grew out of Sue’s long-standing passion for law and languages. Over the past 23 years, the business has been built steadily and deliberately, with a clear strategic decision to remain focused on two specialist areas: legal and business interpreting and translation between French and English.

Avocate works across both commercial and public sector assignments, delivering face-to-face and remote interpreting in legal venues such as courts, lawyers’ offices and business meetings.

“The professional skills I gained from working in a busy solicitor’s office have stood me in good stead while building up my own business, and in mentoring new entrants to the profession,” says Sue. She remains a practising linguist herself, supported by a small group of trusted colleagues and a dedicated administrative team covering areas such as marketing and accounting.

Rather than scaling broadly, Avocate has prioritised depth of expertise and professional credibility, and stayed focused by choice. This focus is reinforced through active participation in professional associations and networks, as well as a considered and consistent presence on social media.

“On social media, I am where my clients are. I take part in the discussions they’re having, while making sure I stay up to date with developments in the legal profession. You have to work harder in today’s virtual world to maintain a presence but you can certainly (carefully) build a credible presence on social media,” Sue explains.

In addition to interpreting and translation, Avocate also has a training arm and Sue regularly mentors colleagues and other professionals (such as non-first English language lawyers and business people) in UK legal terminology and legal English.

Discovering the value of ATC membership

Avocate joined the ATC in 2025, following a period of observation and reflection on the association’s relevance: “Over the years, I’d thought about joining, but never got round to it. This shifted when I began paying closer attention to the ATC’s activities, particularly its emphasis on business development and practical support for language service providers.”

While Sue is a member of several other professional organisations, she sees the ATC as offering something different: “For me, the main attraction with the ATC is that it is very much about business. None of the other organisations I belong to really have such a strong focus on how to run a business, how not to run a business, and where future opportunities lie.”

Scooping up a commendation for the New Member of the Year Award at the ATC’s Language Industry Awards in 2025, Avocate is fast becoming a known entity within the ATC’s business network.

Giving back through standards work

Beyond membership, Sue has been keen to contribute actively to the ATC’s work, particularly in the area of professional standards.

“I’ve offered to put back into the ATC because I’m very interested in the useful work the association is doing with ISO standards. With my legal and business background, I felt I could contribute something useful.”

In late 2025, Sue formally joined the British Standards Institution’s TS/1 Committee for Language and Terminology as a representative for the ATC. TS/1 acts as the UK mirror committee for ISO Technical Committee 37, which develops international standards for language and terminology.

The BSI TS/1 Committee’s role is to scrutinise and comment on ISO standards under development, helping to shape how they are interpreted and applied within the UK. Within the ATC context, Sue brings particular expertise in interpreting standards, informed by both her legal background and her long standing professional practice and membership of various professional conduct committees.

Sue Leschen was in conversation with ATC CEO Raisa McNab.