No, I don’t mean an attorney based in artificial intelligence. You need a human attorney who is fully educated on the latest technology that allows them to serve you best, especially during difficult times such as the pandemic.
Born in the 1960’s, I entered college with a manual typewriter. In 1986, I graduated law school with a personal computer. The rapid and revolutionary technological shift in which we’re living is unprecedented in history. Creative professionals know this very well. Authors use computers and the web. Actors use digital headshots and submit home-shot video via email and the web. Musicians put their music on the web as digital files.
My first job as an attorney was as in-house counsel at a major national insurance company. I had my own secretary and a Dictaphone. I did not have a computer. Today, I am a one-man office. I have a laptop, printer/scanner, and an iPhone. Vast law libraries and courthouses are available to me as long as I have an internet connection.
Most importantly, digital lawyers are best able to serve their clients at all times, especially during unforeseen events like the global pandemic. First, clients do not need to travel to an attorney’s office. Zoom and telephone meetings are fine. In almost all cases, documents do not need to be printed and mailed. Digital formats such as PDFs can be attached as emails. Those of us who have the appropriate technology can create and edit these documents easily, even allowing for digital signatures by clients and other necessary parties. Occasionally, documents need to be notarized. Fortunately, the states in which I practice have made arrangements for that process to be easy and safe.
On March 19, 2020, New York’s Governor Cuomo signed an executive order authorizing notary publics to officiate documents remotely. Specific procedures must be followed to remotely notarize a document. In addition, by an order dated April 7, 2020, Gov. Cuomo relaxed New York’s requirement for witnessing the execution of wills, trusts, powers of attorney that include statutory gift riders, health care proxies, and statutory appointments of agents to control disposition of remains under specialized rules to permit the use of audio-video technology. Certain conditions must be met, so you would be well advised to consult an attorney familiar with these issues.
On April 27, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law An Act Providing For Virtual Notarization To Address Challenges Related To COVID-19, which permits notaries in the Commonwealth to notarize documents remotely with the assistance of electronic videoconferencing technology while Massachusetts remains under the COVID-19 state of emergency.
Technology is constantly changing. Make sure that any attorney you make a part of your team knows how to make that new technology work for you.