Sterling Miller, creator of the popular blog, 10 Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel, offers a look into electronic signatures while mixing in his flair of wit and wisdom.
In the latest installment of his popular blog, 10 Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel, Sterling Miller dives into electronic signatures with his usual mix of wit and wisdom. “The current pandemic crisis with its discouraged human interaction is the perfect launching pad for thinking about ‘signing’ documents remotely and e-signatures are the perfect solution for that,” he writes. He includes a brief history of signatures that takes us back to the Egyptian and Persian empires, through the requirements of the 1677 Statute of Frauds, when written signatures became necessary for certain contracts to be formed. “Over time,” he continues, “what constitutes a signature got looser, anything from singing an “X” for your mark (which evolved from the practice of signing documents with the sign of the cross) to using a rubber stamp to the elaborate use of notaries (especially in civil law countries) to authenticate signatures on documents. For most of us, we simply sign with a blue-ink pen (a ‘wet signature’) and move on.” Read more at Miller’s 10 Things blog.
Published June 21, 2020.
