December 6, 2013
Colloquium Topic: Electronic Signatures and Records: The Intersection of Law and Technology
Electronic Signatures and Records sit at the intersection of two disciplines: law and technology. As technological advances have made the ability to create and store records electronically accessible to virtually everyone, businesses and consumers are seeking to exploit this technology to facilitate transactions. The appeal of the electronic medium is readily apparent…convenience, speed, and cost savings to mention only some of the benefits. But the enforceability and legal reliability of agreements entered into electronically is a gating issue, one that can facilitate or hold back the widespread use of electronic records in commercial and financial transactions.
Our presenters will describe the legal framework which Congress and the States have put in place to facilitate electronic transactions. They will outline what steps have been taken by public and private players to advance the use of electronic signatures and records since adoption of the federal ESign Act in 2000. They will also describe current trends in the marketplace and discuss hurdles that remain to be cleared to facilitate more widespread use of electronic records and signatures in financial and commercial transactions. The mission, features and a few highlights of Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures (SPeRS) will be provided, as well as background on the SPeRS analysis of electronic records management and retention. What are eRecords and how are they used? Examples will be given of requirements, both legal and practical, and best practices examples from years of experience in delivering eRecords solutions in the marketplace.
Colloquium Speaker: Jerry Buckley, Margo Tank, and Steve Bisbee
Jeremiah S. Buckley
Jerry Buckley is a founding partner of BuckleySandler LLP, a 150 lawyer law firm with offices in Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Mr. Buckley is co-author The Law of Electronic Signatures and Records (West, 2012) and he acted as Counsel to the Drafting Committee of SPeRS (Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures), which has become a behavioral standard for use and creation of electronic signatures and records. He played a leading role in advocating the enactment of the federal E-Sign Act, which was signed into law in 2000.
Mr. Buckley advises a wide range of clients in the financial services industry on compliance with state and federal laws, and his firm is recognized as a leader in the area of consumer financial services law.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Buckley served as Republican Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.
Mr. Buckley serves as an adjunct associate professor of law at the Washington College of Law at American University.
In January 2005, Mr. Buckley was one of only 114 attorneys nationwide named a member of the "2005 BTI Client Service All-Star's" team for law firms, and was identified by a client as "delivering truly outstanding and superior service." In March 2009, Mr. Buckley was named an eMortgage All-Star by Mortgage Banking magazine. He was also named one of Washington, DC’s Top Financial Services Lawyers by Washingtonian magazine, December 2009. Mr. Buckley was selected for inclusion in both Best Lawyers (2013-2014) and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2008-2013). In Chambers 2013, he is ranked as a Senior Statesman in Financial Services Regulation: Consumer Finance (Compliance). Chambers says he "is a highly respected consumer finance practitioner and has incredible depth of expertise in the mortgage sector."
Mr. Buckley received his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School and his A.B. from Fairfield University.
Margo H. K. Tank
Margo Tank is a partner of BuckleySandler LLP. Ms. Tank advises financial services institutions and technology companies on structuring online and mobile financial services product offerings in compliance with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), and other state and federal laws governing electronic financial services transactions, electronic chattel paper, mobile payments and mobile wallets, prepaid access and virtual payment methods, and laws related to privacy and data security, money transmission, and unfair or deceptive acts and practices.
Ms. Tank's other activities include acting as the Co-Reporter for the Drafting Committee preparing the Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures (SPeRS) (http://www.spers.org/), and advocacy before Congress and federal regulators with respect to electronic financial services issues as counsel to the Electronic Financial Services Council and the Electronic Signatures and Records Association. She was named a “2009 Mortgage Banking Technology All-Star” by Mortgage Banking Magazine. Ms. Tank is also a member of the American Bar Association's Business Law Section and the Committee on the Law of Commerce in Cyberspace and a member of the Electronic Transactions Association’s Mobile Payments Committee.
Ms. Tank is co-author of The Law of Electronic Signatures and Records (West, a Thomson Reuters business, 2012-2013 Edition) and a number of articles: “What Emerging Payment Providers Can Learn From Liberty Reserve and Mt. Gox,” Payments Journal, August 1, 2013; “A Brief Guide to Using Electronic Signatures in Securities Transactions,” Practical Compliance & Risk Management for the Securities Industry, July 1, 2013; “Planning for Accessibility when Developing Financial Services Websites and Mobile Apps,” American Bar Association Consumer Financial Services Newsletter, June 20, 2013; “NACHA's Guidelines for Bill Payments Via QR Codes,” E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy, April 16, 2013; “Federal Regulators Issue Guidance on Social Media and Mobile Privacy,” Internet Law & Strategy, April 4, 2013; “Is Regulatory Uncertainty an Impediment to Mobile Payments?” Payments Journal, January 23, 2013; “E-Signatures: Zulkiewski v. American General Life Insurance Company,” E-Commerce Law Reports, December 4, 2012; “Two Agencies and Various Industry Standards Offer Guideposts on Mobile Disclosure Requirements,” National Law Journal, April 11, 2012; “Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures (SPeRS), Version 2.0,” Electronic Financial Services Council, November 29, 2011; “eMortgage Implementation Considerations,” Electronic Banking Law and Commerce Report, July 1, 2006; “It’s the Message, Not the Medium,” The Business Lawyer, August 1, 2005.
Prior to joining BuckleySandler, Ms. Tank was a partner with Goodwin Procter LLP. Before entering private practice, she was counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Banking and Financial Services. Ms. Tank received her J.D. from Drake University Law School (with honors) and while there was Projects Editor for the Drake University Law Review. She received a B.A. from the University of Vermont and also studied commercial law at Queens College, Oxford University in England.
Steve Bisbee
Steve Bisbee is the president and CEO of eOriginal, Inc., a provider of electronic transaction management and vaulted repository solutions. Mr. Bisbee founded eOriginal to fulfill a vision of building a product wrapping electronic business and legal processes in security technologies to reduce the inefficiencies of paper-based transactions. For several years, Mr. Bisbee played a leadership role among organizations establishing legal standards and best practices for electronic commerce. He continues this effort as a Board Member of the Electronic Signature and Records Association, a Washington DC based educational and policy association.