Following the Law Society’s Property Conference on 8th October 2020, Ciazer Cahn (Chief Legal & Compliance Officer of 360 Law Group) presented the firm’s ground-breaking V-Sign system showcasing the ability to carry out electronic identity verifications, signatures and virtual witnessing of legal documentation all through 360 Law Group’s V-Sign application.
V-Sign was first introduced in March 2020 to allow the execution of documents by multiple signatories in a video environment with the ability for all attendees to view/sign documents all under one interface. Initially the focus was with Insolvency Practitioners in respect of company documentations, Statutory Declarations and Notice of Intention documents, following the first lockdown imposed by the Government that restricted access for individuals to solicitors.
The timing of launching V-Sign could not have been more apt for the legal industry following the Law Commission’s report on virtual signatures and witnessing in March 2020. The combination of this report and the uncertain situation around COVID-19 forced a shift in the UK Legal industry in how it approaches signing of documents. 360 Law Group’s approach to signing documents through its V-Sign application pre-empted certain regulatory/statutory bodies’ approach to digital signing and virtual witnessing, such as the Insolvency Practice Direction being changed to permit signature/witnessing virtually. V-Sign grew significantly through its success and growth within the Insolvency industry where 360 Law Group continues to offer V-Sign services to a range of legal and insolvency practitioners from small high street practitioners to global firms.
360 Law Group has recently developed its V-Sign application to expand its use within the Wills/Probate sector following the recent changes in the UK permitted by the Wills Act permit signing and witnessing in a Video environment, and 360 Law Group is now following suit within the property legal area.
V-Sign offers individual clients and legal firms a means of facilitating electronic verification of individuals’ identity and residence, AML checks, electronic/digital signing, and virtual witnessing in a videoed environment all under one interface.
Individuals and legal firms will be rest assured that their costs will be lower coupled with the greater convenience and accessibility in which to do it than having to go through several different providers for different applications at each time. The added benefit of V-Sign is the way the services are carried out minimises susceptibility to fraud and manipulation through a robust tamper-proof digital footprint, reducing risks of substantial injustice.