Proving a digital signature in a small court

[Wilson2012]

If I have a consumer client sign a contract electronically (e.g. using Adboe echosign or whatever) then how is something like that proven in court?

I'm a photographer in Pennsylvania and am thinking about having people sign model releases electronically and perhaps even have my clients sign contracts electronically.

I'm not thinking about a huge corporate case with multiple attorneys and expert witnesses. I'm, rather, thinking about a $5,000 law suit at a small county court or a small claims.

More specifically, I'm imagining a judge who, in the past, has been used to looking at a contract and comparing its signature it to the client's driver license or another document. What do I present to the judge's satisfaction? Is that judge likely to have experience with electronic signatures? How's that judge going to prove a digital signature to his/her satisfaction?

Thanks!

 

[sandyclaus]

If I have a consumer client sign a contract electronically (e.g. using Adboe echosign or whatever) then how is something like that proven in court?

I'm a photographer in Pennsylvania and am thinking about having people sign model releases electronically and perhaps even have my clients sign contracts electronically.

I'm not thinking about a huge corporate case with multiple attorneys and expert witnesses. I'm, rather, thinking about a $5,000 law suit at a small county court or a small claims.

More specifically, I'm imagining a judge who, in the past, has been used to looking at a contract and comparing its signature it to the client's driver license or another document. What do I present to the judge's satisfaction? Is that judge likely to have experience with electronic signatures? How's that judge going to prove a digital signature to his/her satisfaction?

Thanks!

I'm not entirely clear on how the technology works, either, but I was able to find this site that explains it. Check it out.
http://www.topazsystems.com/information/esignlawexplained.pdf

 

[Wilson2012]

Thanks for the reading assignment Sandyclaus!

I read some of it. I luckily only scanned through most of it or else I still be asleep and I've got a lot to do today. Looks like good background on how electronic signatures are created and justified.

However, it didn't seem to answer my question. I probably haven't asked it right?

After thinking further about this, perhaps my question is more like -- After having a client electronically sign a contract, what physical object would I then hand up to a small court judge that will make him/her say, "Ok"?

I see lots of folks having contracts signed electronically. It has to be the future. But before I use it, I have to better understand it. I have to be one of the few people who doesn't know how this works?

 

[Proseguru]

Unless they guy is there to testify, the judge can either a) say its hearsay and not admissible b) take it but give it no weight b) take it and give it some weight

I would think either a or b ...

 

[latigo]

Unless they guy is there to testify, the judge can either a) say its hearsay and not admissible b) take it but give it no weight b) take it and give it some weight

I would think either a or b ...

My my my ?

I see that the inmates have seized the nurses' station - again!

Just another day in the loony bin.

 

[Wilson2012]

Ok, this is just a personal opinion, from a layman, after limited research. But, for what ever it's worth here is what I have thus far.

I continued researching this, even at one company that provides digital signature services. No answer so far to my question.

Here is why I guess that nobody has been able to answer my question.

First, wet signatures are intuitively obvious to us all. For additional evidence of a wet signature I could go to the bank with the signer and have it notarized. Or I could have a couple of witnesses sign underneath. Or, I could simply ask to see the signer's driver's license and make sure the the signatures match.

Then later, with a wet signature, a small claims court judge could look at any of the things that I provide, as above, as additional evidence. It's all easily understood, easily questioned, and intuitively obvious to anyone.

On the other hand, with a digital signature there's probably no witness who saw the actual person signing, not even me. Who was actually sitting at the computer? I suppose that it is, instead, proven that it was the signer's computer that was used; which is complicated and involes IP numbers and so on. Still, we have to believe that it was the owner of the computer who was using the computer at the time. Then I'm going to hand the judge, uhhh what? A piece of paper with data? Or some encrypted file on a usb drive? It's necessary to prove that the digital document hasn't been altered. All of this gets so complicated that I'm wondering how most judges would react?

Again, I'm only asking questions. I'm not putting it down, and want to believe that digital signatures are a good thing. It would seriously help my business. Alas, I'm still looking for an answer.