Swaab Attorneys is assisting in the development and trial of a new application which could save lawyers and clients’ time and money in the authorisation of legal documents.

Swaab client FormBay originally designed its mobile application for the Australian Solar Industry, to replace the lengthy manual process of data, but has with the help of Swaab realised the application’s full potential across a myriad of industries.

The FormBay application allows users on mobile devices to sign documents electronically and then send them back to the other party without concern over the authorisations’ integrity. “In essence it allows users to cut down the turnaround time in getting contracts authorised. And it gives lawyers and clients’ confidence in those electronic signatures as they have the GPS location, a photo and IP address captured at the time of signing,” said FormBay director Dan Sullivan.

During the process of authorisation, the application sends those three pieces of information to the headquarters via a Cloud network, in addition to the signed documents or forms.

Swaab senior associate Naomi Messenger has been trialling the application with some of her clients and says that so far she has received only positive feedback. “With FormBay clients will be able to return documents authorised to us much quicker,” she said. “There has been a push from clients for us to streamline the client authorisation process, and we have an obligation to provide a more efficient service.”

While there are certain types of documents that have to be signed in writing on a hardcopy document, such as the purchase of a property, Messenger says that in many cases under Australian law it is possible to use electronic signatures.

Sullivan intends to take the product to the Australian and U.S. legal markets once the trial period is complete. The application will be available through iTunes.