MODULE 8.1 - Legal Office Procedure
MODULE 8.1 - Legal Office Procedure
Many of the documents you will prepare are so important and so complex
that your lawyer will ask you to prepare a rough draft for his or her review
before you can begin to type the final copy.
This does not necessarily mean that the lawyer wants to check the accuracy
of your transcription, although he will be concerned with accuracy of every
document that your produce.
The lawyer may want to make absolutely certain that he or she has phrased
the document in exactly the right manner and that everything is correct.
At times, you will be asked to proofread documents to make certain that they
are accurate.
Proofreading is a very important task of a legal office assistant before the
final copy is reproduced for the signature of the lawyer.
TESTIMONIUM CLAUSE
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SIGNATURE LINES
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Following the testimonium clause are the typed rules for the signatures.
o These are generally typed beginning at the center of the page or
slightly to the right center, and they extend to the right margin.
o Below each rule is usually typed the designation of the signing party,
such as party of the first part or seller and party of the second
part of buyer.
In an employment contract, the parties may be designated employer and
employee.
Some lawyers prefer simply to type the name of the parties below the
signature lines.
If the person signing in an officer of a corporation, the title he holds may be
used in place of his name or may follow his name.
An officer must always sign for a corporation, and the signature line is
preceded by the name of the corporation he or she represents.
Sometimes the testimonium clause contains the words hands and seal.
If it does, then the signature lines are followed by the letters L.S. at the right
margin. The abbreviation stands for the Latin phrase locus sigilli which
means the place of the seal.
This custom and wording go back to a very old practice in which the
signer, to prove that the signature was his own, imprinted the seal
from his ring into soft, heated wax after he signed a document.
Today the sealing of an instrument with the words hand and seal in the
testimonium clause and the letter L.S. after the signature lines have
legal implications regarding the enforceability of the agreement.
You will learn when an instrument must be sealed. At first, however, you must
rely on the lawyer to instruct you in this matter.
Strictly speaking, sealed agreements are known as covenant rather than to
agree to their terms.
However, in practice the terms covenant and agree are usually used
synonymously.
by _____________________________
____________________________________
Corporate Secretary
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The signature liens on any legal paper must never appear alone on the last
page of the document. This is because it would be too easy for an
unscrupulous person to substitute pages of the document that precede the
signatures.
Therefore, at least the last two lines of the document, other than the
testimonium clause, should be carried over the page on which the parties will
sign.
This rule regarding placement of signature lines often causes a problem for
the one preparing the legal document.
You may find that she does not have enough room for the testimonium clause
and the signature lines on pages on which terms of the agreement are stated.
To resolve this problem, most offices devise a procedure whereby extra space
is left on the next-to-last page of the document so that at least two lines of
the document will appear on the last page.
A common device which is used in some law offices is the ruling in ink of a
large Z to cover the blank page.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PORTION
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NOTARY PUBLIC
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT CLAUSE
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without his instructions. If you are in doubt as to when it is required, ask the
lawyer.
Although, format and wording of acknowledgements vary, they usually
include the following:
o A statement of venue that is, location in which the document is
executed. This is usually boxed with parentheses or colons and is
usually double-spaced, although some courts prefer single-spacing.
A statement of the purpose of the acknowledgement and the capacity of the
signing party or parties.
A testimonium clause to precede the notarys signature in some states.
The signature of the notary with the indication of the location in which is
qualified and the date of expiration of the authority for notary public.
The notarys seal, which is affixed after the document has been signed by the
parties and the notary.
If you are in doubt as to where to type the acknowledgement, a check of the
files will probably indicate official preference.
o Some legal firms want the acknowledgement typed approximately four
lines below the signature lines.
o Other legal firms prefer that it be typed on a separate page.
o Still others use legal printed forms. In these instances, the legal office
assistant or the legal secretary or the notary fills in the appropriate
information before the documents are notarized.
The acknowledgement is then attached to the document.
Sometimes a document is prepared on a printed form.
In this case, the acknowledgement is generally included as a part of the form.
And if the document is to be folded, the acknowledgement may be printed on
one of the folds on the back of the document.
AFFIDAVITS
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Lawyers are often asked to prepare notarized papers in which the maker,
then known as the affiant, swears under oath to the truth of the statements
they contain.
The sworn statements are known as affidavits.
Unlike acknowledgements, affidavits are documents in themselves.
They may be required for limitless types of situations both non-court or
court matters, such as:
o They may be needed for real estate transactions.
o That a married must sign an affidavit stating that she has not been
known by any other name for the past ten years.
o A man may be accused of having has court judgements against him
when, in truth, they were issued against someone else with the same
name. he would need an affidavit stating these facts.
o You may need to have an affidavit of loss as in the case of lost bank
passbook, and the like.
o People may need affidavits in connection with applications for licenses
or various sorts. They may require affidavits to affirm citizenship,
THE JURAT
The legal document must bear the notarys signature and the official seal and a
statement that the document was signed in her presence and sworn to under oath.
This section of the affidavit, known as the jurat, also indicates the date when it was
signed.
The legal office assistant of legal secretary is responsible for seeing that
client documents are correctly typed, executed, and notarized, if necessary.
She also has other responsibilities related to the preparation of these
documents.
She must collate papers correctly, back then it its required, conform copies,
and at times record documents with the country recorders office.
After you have prepared the correct number of copies of a document, your
first task is to collate them; this requires that all the originals be assembled,
all first carbons, all second carbons, and so on.
You must make certain that all pages are included and that they are in the
correct order.
BACKING
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Some offices back certain client documents with heavy sheet of paper, often
colored, that is to 1 inch longer than the paper on which the document is
typed.
The extra length of the backing sheet is folded over the top, and the pages of
the document are inserted under the fold and stapled about inch from the
top.
These backed documents may be submitted to the clients safety-deposit
box.
One of the folds of the backing sheet is often printed to allow the names of
the parties and date of execution to be filled in.
The name and address of the law firm is also printed on this fold.
All the information on the backing sheet, the secretary must type it on the
proper fold.
This is done before the document is stapled into the backing sheet.
If the document requires an acknowledgement, this may also be printed on
the backing sheet and notarized.
CONFORMING
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Lawyers are frequently called upon to prepare documents that transfer title
to real property or real state or that lease real property.
Real property consists of land and structures, which are permanently
attached to that land, such as houses, garage, and landscaping.
o These are known as appurtenances and are considered part of the
real property.
o Everything that a person owns that is not real property is personal
property.
Obviously, the list of items that constitute personal property is almost
endless.
o It includes automobiles, trailers, boats, clothing, household goods,
jewelry, office furnishings, to name only a few.
Philippine laws are much more particular about the manner in which title to
real property is transferred than they are about transfer of title to personal
property.
o example, most real estate transactions are handled under the
guidance of real estate brokers who make use of private companies
that specialize in handling the paper work necessary for legal transfer
of title. These companies are generally known as title companies or
abstract companies.
Law firms who handle transfers of real property, the lawyers are frequently
asked to represent clients in buying or selling real estate. It is, therefore
estate. It is, therefore essential that the legal office assistant familiarizes
oneself with the procedures in a real estate transactions, whether a law firm
or other organization handles real estate transfers, the paper work is much
the same.