Electronic signature for lawyers and law firms

Yes, without difficulty. Article 10 of the law of 31 December 1971 as amended by the Macron Law requires a written agreement to be concluded, but prescribes no particular form. Certyneo advanced electronic signature (AES) fully satisfies the evidentiary requirement, with the advantage of precisely timestamping the conclusion of the agreement before service begins.

A solicitor document (articles 66-3-1 to 66-3-3 of the law of 31 December 1971) is a deed under private seal countersigned by one or more solicitors, which benefits from enhanced evidentiary force and relieves the need for handwritten notation. Certyneo allows the client to sign electronically (AES), then the solicitor to countersign electronically — everything is archived with a common audit trail.

Advanced signature (AES), which Certyneo delivers natively, covers the vast majority of firm documents: fee agreements, engagement letters, protocols, incorporations. Qualified signature (QES) is reserved for acts where law explicitly requires it (electronic notarial deeds, certain notarial acts): in this specific case, we can refer you to a QTSP partner. Native QES integration is planned in our roadmap.

Yes. The audit trail embeds in the signed PDF all the elements required by article 1366 of the Civil Code: signatory identification (dual-channel OTP), qualified timestamp, document cryptographic fingerprint, IP and geolocation. It constitutes a coherent body of evidence admissible before civil, commercial and employment courts.

Yes. Certyneo applies TLS 1.3 encryption in transit and AES-256 at rest, strict data isolation by firm, and 100% Germany/EU hosting (IONOS) with no subcontracting outside the EU. A standard DPA is available at signup and complies with GDPR requirements — it incorporates specific confidentiality clauses for legal professions.

Yes. Certyneo natively manages sequential or parallel signatures between multiple parties and allows each solicitor to countersign the agreement on behalf of their client. A single audit trail brings together all signatures and timestamps, facilitating archiving in each firm's file.

Our plans include 10-year evidentiary-grade archiving, which aligns with the standard civil limitation period (article 2224 of the Civil Code). For documents requiring longer retention (heritage, succession), extended archiving is available on request. Documents remain downloadable at any time by the firm.

No, Certyneo is complementary: RPVA covers communications with the courts (procedural documents), whilst Certyneo covers the solicitor-client relationship and communications between solicitors (fee agreements, protocols, settlement agreements). Both coexist without conflict and Certyneo stores no RPVA data.