Legal Question in Business Law in California

Can you please advise as to what constitutes a valid e-signature on a contract? Obviously an encrypted official e-signature with a certificate will suffice, but I'm getting cut and pasted copies of signatures, (without any encryption) pasted onto signatures lines of my contracts. Is this a valid form of acceptance? It seems too easy to produce, hence my assumed unenforceability. Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Asked on 1/21/16, 9:54 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

The subject of "electronic transactions" has been addressed by statute in California. See the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, codified as Civil Code sections 1633.1 - 1633.17. In particular, section 1633.5 deals with electronic signatures. Importantly, it applies only to parties who have agreed to conduct a transaction by electronic means. I suggest that you at least skim the other sections of the UETA as well, to get a sense of what is permitted under the current law.

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Answered on 1/22/16, 9:00 am


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