Kristen Godwin Stewart – Law, Post-COVID
Quick-Show Notes:
In this episode of The Millionaire’s Lawyer, JP and Kristen Godwin-Stewart discuss:
COVID has made for a lot of industry to advance at a fast rate technologically, and the Legal Services are a part of it
Everyone right now wants to be able to do things virtually because of social distancing and Public Health regulations.
Convenience for both parties, but identification may be an issue.
Verification:
- Verify the ID
- Check all the security measures
- Verbal Confirmation
- Video file of the client holding the ID up to the camera, and then looking into the camera themselves
- Sending a scanned copy ahead of time to be able to have that reference
Technology needs to and will be evolving in a way that makes verifying identity easier.
Documentation will have to be amended to state that it was verified virtually
Legislative side of things:
- Ontario
- Commissioning and Notarizizing are being revised
- “In the presence of” was defined back in 2004, and in Technology years that is back in the Dinosaur years!
- Now, “In the presence of” could be over a video call, with the proper verification standards in place.
Hopefully, the Provincial Laws in regards to this will be the same alow all provinces and territories.
Clients like to jurisdiction shop
We all need to adopt the same way of verification, signing remote documents.
Lawyers need to be able to provide legal services while meeting there obligations, with all of Public Health regulations in place.
Wills and Power of Attorney
- Orders have been passed due to COVID
- Able to witness and sign via virtual conference
- Video meetings
- Meet professional requirements and obligations
- Steps:
- Threeway call with the Client and the witness
- have the client and the witness prove that they are alone in the room, unless under joint retainer.
- Proceed with signing and the reading as normal
- Witness in counterparts, meaning that there will be three copies of the documentation.
Key Takeaways
From this episode of The Millionaires Lawyer with Kristen Godwin-Stewart:
- Signing and commissioning legislation is getting looked into again
- Everyone is apprehensive about how things are going, and the legislation and statutes are very outdated
- Technology allows lawyers to meet with people thousands of kilometers away