Litigation can move fast. Under normal circumstances, there should be sufficient time for clients to review and execute declarations and verifications, but what about an ex parte hearing noticed for tomorrow? By the time you draft the opposition, there might only be hours for you to obtain a signature from the client on a supporting declaration.
I had that precise situation arise recently, and when I called to inform the client that I was sending over a declaration for his review and signature, he informed me that he was on vacation in Montana, hours from any place he could print, sign and return a declaration. (I don’t know how the hell he even had cell service.)
At one time, before scanners became commonplace in most homes, depending on the nature of the case, I would require the client to have a fax machine. I found a source for plain-paper fax machines that cost just $79, and clients never objected to this small expense when I explained the emergencies that might arise.
Now, it’s less of an issue because most clients know how to scan a document, but I still run into technologically challenged clients who can’t quite figure that one out. Unfortunately, fax machines are becoming less and less of an option because so many people are dumping their land lines. In any event, whether by fax or scan, both are defeated if the client is nowhere near the scanner or fax machine. Neither would help with my Montana situation.
Enter Sign-N-Send.
With this iPhone/iPad app, so long as the client has cell service or wi-fi access, he can receive, sign and return any PDF or Word document I send. The app even allows for selection of “ink” color, in case you have some situation where the document has to be signed in blue ink. If my client has an iPhone, I encourage in the strongest possible terms that they get Sign-N-Send in order to be prepared for an emergency. In the Montana situation, I just had him install it right then and sign and return the document.
The app is free, but in the free version an ad is inserted as the first page of every sent document, which in really annoying, but is an option is your client is really cheap. The paid version is just $4.99; expensive for an app but much cheaper than a fax machine.
Yes, I know attorneys who get around all of this by simply having the client authorize the attorney to sign, or who get verifications signed in advance. I think those are terrible ideas. The act of signing a document is very important, and makes the client realize they are attesting to something.