E-Mails are Signed Writings (yawn)

Although it should hardly be considered to be news anymore, an appellate court in New York has ruled that a series of e-mails constituted “signed writings” within the meaning on New York’s Statute of Frauds.  Consequently, they could be used to modify an employment agreement which provided that all modifications had to be signed by the parties.

The court found that when each party typed his name at the end of his respective e-mail prior to sending it, this signified each party’s “intent to authenticate” the e-mail’s contents.  Thus, the e-mails fell within the scope of the modification provision of the employment agreement, and the contract was deemed to have been modified in accordance with the e-mail’s contents.

There’s nothing remarkable about this ruling.  It relates back to the standard caveat nowadays that parties need to be careful about what they put in their e-mails, as they can obviously impact legal rights.  In this instance, if the parties didn’t want the e-mails to be considered writings, they should have had an express provision in the employment agreement which excluded e-mails from modifying the contract.

In fact, provisions such as these are becoming increasingly common as more and more people communicate via e-mail.  It depends, however, upon the client.  I have several technology clients who prefer e-mails and pdfs to actual paper when communicating with just about everyone, including their customers, prospects, employees, contractors, and attorneys.  While this may be easier and more efficient, it’s also easy—given the daily deluge of e-mails—to delete or overlook them (especially if they get caught in spam filters).  Thus, for those of you who prefer to communciate this way, just be aware of the potential ramifications.

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