Signing and scheduling for New Zealand law firms
Law firms in New Zealand turn work around on documents: engagement letters to issue, authorities to obtain, agreements to execute. SignAndGo and BookAndGo bring the signing and the client meetings into one platform.
How law firms handle documents and client meetings
A new matter opens with an engagement letter, a client care and terms of engagement letter and an authority to act, and runs on a stream of agreements, deeds and acknowledgements after that. Lawyers in New Zealand are regulated by the New Zealand Law Society, and are expected to keep proper records of each matter. New Zealand's Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 gives electronic signatures legal effect for most commercial documents under Part 4, while excluding some, such as wills and certain other documents, so it is worth checking which of your documents can be signed electronically. For those that can, SignAndGo lets you send a document for signing, see what is outstanding, and keep the executed copy with its signing trail.
Client work needs face time: initial consultations, advice meetings, will-signing appointments and settlement meetings. BookAndGo lets clients book a consultation at a time that suits them, sends reminders, and keeps each lawyer's calendar in one view, so scheduling does not eat into billable hours.
What you can do today
Get documents executed
Send engagement letters, authorities to act and agreements for signing, and see what is outstanding at a glance. The executed copy comes back with a signing trail. For documents the Contract and Commercial Law Act excludes, such as wills, keep to your usual process.
Book consultations and settlements
Let clients book initial consultations and settlement meetings online, and reschedule themselves. Reminders cut missed appointments, and the whole firm works from one calendar.
Keep the matter file in order
Signed engagement letters and authorities sit with the matter they belong to, with a clear record of who signed and when. For a New Zealand workspace, your documents, records and files are stored in Australia (Google Cloud, Sydney), with your account details also in Sydney and sign-in and payments in the United States.
Ways law firms use it
A few of the signing and scheduling jobs SignAndGo and BookAndGo handle.
- Issue engagement letters and terms of engagement and get them signed before work begins.
- Obtain authorities to act and client acknowledgements without posting paper back and forth.
- Send agreements and deeds for signing, and keep to your usual process for documents such as wills that are handled a particular way.
- Let clients book consultations and settlement meetings online, with reminders that cut missed appointments.
- Keep signed documents with the matter they belong to, with a record of who signed and when.
- ShareAndGo, for secure data rooms, is coming to New Zealand, for due diligence and document bundles shared with clients and counsel.
Bring your documents and diary together
SignAndGo and BookAndGo for New Zealand businesses, with a free trial.
View pricing