The paper addresses the issue of the complexity of legal communication in an interlingual perspective. The analysis fits in the paradigmatic approach to contrastive studies, where the distribution of discrete units is presented in quantitative terms. The cross-linguistic, computational account of the distribution of selected discrete units across company registration documentation shows systemic distinctions. It discloses recurrent, symmetrical and asymmetrical patterns which result from language system-inherent distinctions and/or the operation of translation universals. The strong point of the research lies in addressing legal communication within the realm of secondary genres, which – for practical reasons – are underrepresented in jurilinguistic studies. The study is based on a custom-designed, parallel corpus comprised of authentic materials.