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How to eSign a document: e-signature legality for contracts

[Music] this is sylvia ho i am going to do um a short video on electronic signatures i've been asked by a number of different clients um over the last six months or so um about electronic signatures whether or not requiring a client or customer to sign them is enforceable and so this video is going to cover the law in connecticut and in and in massachusetts regarding electronic signatures so just to set a context today um because uh we've gone through covet so many transactions are being conducted electronically very very rarely to we print out a contract and have someone sign it and so that um that trend is taking on for businesses um for instance if you go to a facility and they ask you to sign a contract it's quite possible for them to give you an ipad or some sort of electronic device for you to you know use your finger and sign that's been happening for a while but now what we're seeing is we're seeing email and text with contracts that require you to acknowledge by signing and there you touch the area about the signature and you make an agreement now i do that too in my practice my practice tries to keep up with the latest trends business because i represent uh business owners and so what i'm going to cover right now is whether or not you can uh use that electronic signature if you need to enforce it against the party who's violated some sort of part of the agreement so what i'm going to show you is the law in connecticut and massachusetts both laws are created under a uniform act concerning electronic transactions and they're very similar you're going to see that here so what i'm going to share with you right now first is the connecticut law and what um what i'm covering right now as i go up on this the name of this law is the connecticut uniform electronic transactions act and down here we talked about electronic transactions when you send an email to someone um that's uh with with an agreement that's an electronic transaction a transaction um it can be um can be recognized even though it's digital it's not uh typed out on word and then printed out and signed so here we have um the provision call calling for legal recognition of electronic records and electronic signatures and electronic contracts here in connecticut it can be enforced it says a contract may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because an electronic record was used in the formation of a contract so there you're safe a law if a law requires a record to be inviting an electronic record that satisfies the law there you're safe if a law requires a signature an electronic signature satisfies law there you go you're safe now here we have in massachusetts i have some clients in massachusetts and and also clients from connecticut doing business in massachusetts again um this is a uniform law so let's go back um to the this is section seven which is down here of um of the massachusetts general laws um and uh let me just see oops go back um sections on um electronic signatures and here it says a record again the same wording right cannot be denied uh legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form a contract may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because an electronic record was used in its formation if a law requires record in writing an electronic record satisfies the law if a law requires a signature an electronic um signature satisfies the law so i hope that this was helpful for you and puts you at ease there are some um caveats to this law for for the most part um if you're doing business as a business owner small business owner you can feel confident um that the law protects you [Music] do