The unprecedented conditions created by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting government shutdown orders have placed significant roadblocks for the last step of documenting a contract or other legal document: authentication. The steps to overcome these roadblocks are highlighted two recent Morgan Lewis LawFlashes.
In COVID-19: How to Notarize Documents During a Pandemic, Jeannine Bishop and Kathleen Keyser describe both existing and recent emergency legislation that allows either temporary or permanent remote online notarization (RON) so that documents can be effectively notarized.
In a second publication, Ayesha Waheed and Carl Valenstein walk through the current process in five US jurisdictions to obtain an apostille when traditional offices are closed and an apostille is required to authenticate documents for international transactions.
For our clients, we have formed a multidisciplinary Coronavirus COVID-19 Task Force to help guide you through the broad scope of legal issues brought on by this public health challenge. We also have launched a resource page to help keep you on top of developments as they unfold. If you would like to receive a daily digest of all new updates to the page, please subscribe now to receive our COVID-19 alerts.