Electronic signatures for law firms and legal teams

Documents legal teams send for signature

• Engagement letters

  Scope, fees and terms of the engagement signed by the client before work starts.

• Retainer and fee agreements

  The client's signature, date and initials on every page that needs them.

• Conflict waivers

  A client's informed consent to a conflict of interest, confirmed in writing and signed.

• Settlement agreements

  Several parties signing in the order you set, with counsel for each side added as a signer or a copy recipient.

• NDAs

  Mutual and one-way confidentiality agreements, often signed within the hour.

• Corporate approvals

  Board consents, shareholder resolutions and officer certificates for business clients.

Free templates to start from

• Mutual NDA template

  Both sides agree to protect what the other shares while they explore working together.

Each has a plain-language note on every section, downloads as Word or PDF, and can be sent for signature from SignThis. See all free templates.

How a sealed engagement letter comes together

1. 1

   Step 1: Upload the approved letter

   Upload the PDF exactly as approved. When you send it, the file and its fields are frozen; any change means a new version that everyone signs again.

2. 2

   Step 2: Place fields and set the order

   Add the client and the signing attorney, mark signature, initials and date fields, and decide who signs first.

3. 3

   Step 3: Add an access code

   Require a code you give the client by phone, so a forwarded email on its own doesn't open the document.

4. 4

   Step 4: Keep the evidence

   The sealed PDF carries its own digital signature and timestamp. The audit certificate lists each step: sent, opened, consented, signed and sealed. Anyone holding the file can check it in a PDF reader or on the verify page, without uploading it.

What legal teams rely on

• Tamper-evident audit trail

  Every step is written to a SHA-256 hash-chained log, so a removed or edited entry shows up.

• Verification without uploading

  Anyone you give a sealed PDF to can check its fingerprint on the verify page. The file stays on their computer.

• Audit record export

  Download a document's verified audit record as a CSV for the matter file.

  Audit CSV export is included from Professional, and on every business plan.

• Encryption at rest

  Documents, signatures, names and audit details are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they're stored, with separate keys for each document.

Good to know before you send

• In the US, the ESIGN Act doesn't cover wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, adoption, divorce and other family-law matters, or court orders and filings. Those follow their own rules.
• SignThis doesn't notarize. Documents that must be notarized or recorded need a notary.
• A signer is identified by their personal email link and, if you set one, an access code. SignThis doesn't check identity documents, so decide whether that's enough for the matter.
• The Security page explains how documents are protected and what the design doesn't cover, so you can weigh it against your confidentiality duties.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the rules differ between countries and states. For everything SignThis doesn't do, see what SignThis does not have.