The original is always the best. In the act, we have something called the best rule of proof. In principle, if you present evidence to a court, it is the best evidence available. Therefore, if a signed agreement is proof, the agreement with the original signatures of both parties is the best proof. Everything else is the second best. For example, an agreement with an original signature and a copy of the other signature. Or a photocopy of an agreement that had both original signatures. It will always be possible to address questions about the second best evidence. For example, what is the quality of the copy? Is the copy integrity? Anyone changed the copy? Could someone have changed it? As a general rule, contracts do not have to fulfill any formalities. Even if you have a signed written document, a signature can be challenged with evidence from a manuscript expert and we participated in a legal proceeding in which this was done. In a recent LinkedIn panel discussion with other lawyers from around the world, different countries seemed to have different preferences when it comes to printed copies compared to scanned/electronic copies of contracts.
Most of the time, a contract doesn`t need to be written, as much as someone could tell you something else. This includes people who decide they can`t afford to pay for your services and say, “I never signed the contract.” If you sign a private contract between two parties, you can agree on acceptable types of signatures. Present this agreement in writing so that you can bring it to justice if necessary. If your contract or agreement is to be registered with a court, you will probably need to have as consideration documents signed in the original. Massachusetts even allows, in a variant of the law, that emails be used as a signature on a contract. The case of Feldberg vs. Coxall is an example of this. In this case, the purchase was a piece of property, the deal failed, but the buyers were able to maintain the deal using the Massachusetts Uniform Transactions Act, which allowed an email exchange to act as a signature in a contract. The problem is that you maintain your end of good deal, but the customer only pays you 50% of the agreed price. Find out here if a signature scanned in a dish holds water. counterparties; electronic enforcement. This Agreement may be signed in any number of equivalents and each counterparty must represent a fully executed original, as if it were signed by both parties.
The delivery by fax or electronic means of an equivalent of one signature page to this Agreement (e.g. B”.pdf” or “.tif”) is considered to be the delivery of an equivalent of this manually executed agreement. In practice, the parties can obtain agreement by including in their agreements a language that stipulates that an electronic or digital signature or data set has the same effect as a wet-colored signature or a physical record. . . .