PDF for Lawyers

Digital Signatures - Advanced class

The other day I attended a free online webinar by some Adobe gurus who dove deep into the arcana of digital signatures.  After the dive I realized that I had a mild case of the bends.

Here's the problem.  Like most people who don't live in an 'enterprise world,' where there's a rigorous document review cycle, I just want to sometimes slap a 'digital signature' on a document and not have the recipient feel like I've sent them some bizarre totemic glyph.  

My needs are simple.  Apparently, true digital signatures are not.

I've written a short blurb (on my Digital Workflow site) on how to take your basic signature and turn it into a stamp that you can slap on any document that requires ye olde John Hancock.  This is not a true digital signature, but it makes people happy.  

That would be in stark contrast to the signature example set forth below:

 

When people see this kind of signature they immediately present a glum countenance.  Then they hastily reach for the phone to tell you how unhappy your digital signature has made them. 

Basically, as the guy said in the movie Cool Hand Luke, what we have here is a failure to communicate. So, let's break digital signatures down and find out where the communication problem comes from. 

A signature, digital or not, has to satisfy two elements: (1) non-repudiability, and (2) acceptance by the receiving party.  In other words, the point of signing a document is so the recipient knows it's from you, and that you can't deny it's from you (i.e. you can't repudiate authorship of the document).  Digital signatures are far superior to regular signatures in this arena.  Where they fail miserably is in the 'acceptance' part.

Because digital signatures are not familiar to most people they freak out if they see a bunch of numbers where they're used to seeing indecipherable human scrawl.  So, how to remedy this problem?  

The quick and dirty fix is to do what I outline in that blurb I mentioned a few sentences ago. Just create a stamp and slap that on the document you want to 'sign.'  It won't be secure like a real digital signature (and if you want to repudiate it you can say your secretary exceeded her authority and stamped it without your knowledge).  But, let's say you're a fair-minded, by-the-rules kind of guy (or gal).  Is there another option?

Turns out there is (although this wasn't covered in the Adobe webinar; I had to find it myself using a snorkle).  Here are some steps:

1. Do all the stuff in that blurb, which will result in you having a .PNG file with a graphic of your signature. Keep that in a handy place on your computer hard drive. 
2. Then when you're ready to sign the document open it in Acrobat and find the 'signing' icon (look for a graphic that looks like a tilted blue ballpoint pen (or look for the menu ADVANCED > SIGN AND CERTIFY). 
3. You will then be presented with a dialogue box that looks like this: 

   

Do not click sign, or else your recipient will see weird stuff that will make them not accept your document. Instead, note where it says 'Appearance' in the dialogue box and select the drop down menu and look for 'Create New Appearance' as in the graphic below:

At this point you will be shown a new dialogue box like the one set out below. 

So, you'll want to do two things here.  First, you'll import the .PNG graphic that I told you about in step #1.  This will introduce that indecipherable scrawl which is really the key to getting your signature accepted by people you send your documents to.  

But, second, and most important, you'll want to uncheck ALL of those boxes under the 'Configure Text' section.  Like this:

After you do this, fill in the 'Title' field to name your new 'signature profile' (I suggest you choose something like 'Basic signature' but it's up to you).  Then next time you go to sign a document you can just use the 'signature' tool and imprint a real live 'digital signature.'  But with the added benefit of being something that the recipient will actually accept.

In our next (super-dooper) advanced class we'll cover how to trade verification certificates with people who actually care about real digital signatures.  But, for now, I'll close out by saying...

Fax signatures - how secure are they?

Tristian Wilson was released from a Memphis jail on the authority of a forged fax message. So why, then, do we place so much faith in fax signatures? That's the excellent question posed by security expert Bruce Schneier.

Electronic signatures gaining acceptance

Today was a first for me.  I received my renewal application for my professional liability insurance by email.  It was a PDF form, which is not surprising.  What was surprising is that the signature line was set to accept an electronic signature.  I had already set up my Acrobat program to input this, so it was easy to do with a click or two.  Once I signed it I was prompted to click a button to email it back in, which I did.  This was the first time I've been able to easily sign a form like this. 

I'll bet there aren't too many lawyers who signed the form in this manner.  But I'll bet that the number will be higher next year.  Have any of you had the opportunity to electronically sign a PDF form?

Be more efficient: scan your signature into your form letters

No one should print out a letter to sign it unless it's absolutely necessary. For example, if you plan to send a letter to someone by email then you should have your signature already included in your form letter. That way you can create a PDF and email it without ever printing it out. Even if you do print out letters, having your signature scanned in and loaded into your standard form of letter can save lots of time. Here's a good article on how to scan in your signature.

How to make a pretty electronic signature

I've written before about how lawyers' obsession with having their actual signatures on e-filed documents can lead to trouble.  Now, from Rick Borstein's excellent blog comes a great post about how to create a transparent signature stamp.  I was alerted to this by Dennis Kennedy whose post has some great resources links to information about electronic signatures.

PDF Security -- How-To Series

PDFZone has a 5 part series on PDF security, signatures, and the like.

The topics cover Preferences, Creating a Digital ID, Adding an Electronic Signature, Certifying and Signing a PDF, and Adding Passwords. The series has run (so far) from Feb. 19 through Mar. 7, 2006, so make sure you look back far enough.

Highly recommended!

~~Dave

How do electronic signatures work?

This is a complex answer, but many people ask so we feel compelled to offer an explanation.  Or should I say, offer a link to an explanation (courtesy of 'How Stuff Works').  For more information about digital signatures, check out our posts on the topic.

Profile of Adobe's President

The Economist has a great profile of Bruce Chitzen, the head of Adobe Systems.  He's a big fan of using PDF files to improve government efficiency, and spoke in Brussels about this, noting that:

Belgium will be the first country in the European Union to give its citizens electronic ID cards. And by plugging these cards into the USB ports of computers that have Reader, Belgians will soon be able to “sign”—ie, digitally authenticate and seal—PDF documents such as tax forms, mortgage applications, patent approvals and anything else that today requires a signature in ink.

Yeah, it would be nice to have wider recognition of digital signatures in the United States.  The physical act of signing paper is inefficient compared to digital signatures; of course, we seem to regard the learning curve associated with digital signatures as unsurmountable.

Electronic Signatures - they do exist don't they?

"At last count, forty-nine states, the U.S. Federal Government, and the governments of over fifteen countries have enacted or are currently considering some form of electronic signature legislation," write Thomas Smedinghoff and Ruth Hill Bro, two knowlegeable lawyers at Baker & McKenzie.  My question is: what's the count on lawyers actually using electronic signatures in their practice?

The other day I heard a transactional lawyer explaining the nuances and complexities of various deals that she's been involved in.  She explained that she rarely needs to come to the office because the nature of her practice is so dependent on email and phone conversations.  She said that it is rare for the parties to actually meet in one room to hash through changes and then formalize the agreement with signatures that they affix in each other's presence.  So how do they handle the signatures?

She said that the parties execute signatures on paper and then scan them to PDF and send them to the other side's lawyers to hold in escrow until the deal is formalized.  What about using electronic signatures, I asked?

"We don't do that," she said.  Followed by "what are they exactly?"  Well, the long answer is contained in the aforementioned article on Electronic Signature Legislation.  In that article the authors point out that:

"electronic signature legislation can, and perhaps should, be designed and enacted to accomplish two goals: (1) to remove barriers (actual and perceived) to e-commerce, and (2) to enable and promote the desirable public policy goal of e-commerce by helping to establish the "trust" and the "predictability" needed by parties doing business online."

Yes, those should be the goals.  But I think it's fair to say that legislation cannot remove the biggest barrier in the realm of electronic signatures: changing habits.  Really smart lawyers do deals everyday, and they use cellphones, blackberrys, computers, and online collaborative workspaces.  But somehow they can't get their brains around electronic signatures.  Why is that? 

I suggest it's because the act of signing a document is so simple, and so ingrained in our consciousness, that switching to a new mode that requires not only 'technology' but also 'legislation' is just too much for us.  Imagine if technology and legislation were requird to do finger paintings.  Not even the five year olds could handle that.  And their minds are completely open to new ideas.

One day people will actually use electronic signatures (maybe around the same time we finally colonize Mars).  But for now it's fascinating to see how far they will go to preserve the ritual of affixing their scrawl to a piece of paper.  I'm sure the cave painters in Lascaux weren't eager to work in a new medium either.

Great article on using Digital Signatures with PDF files

Karl De Abrew has a great article entitled Using Digital Signatures with Acrobat. It begins by pointing out the folly of signing things by hand, which isn't folly to most people because it is a routine act that no one really thinks about. Well, almost no one:

"Run that past me one more time ... You want me to take pen in hand and scrawl a squiggly line on a thin slice of dead tree as a form of unique identification? Please! I'd rather use a wax seal from WaxEnt.com."

I'm not sure I'm willing to take up using wax seals, but I think that traditional signatures are a bottleneck to more efficient communication. It's a shame more people don't know about the benefits of digital signatures.