Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

For school-related field trips, it is customary to require parents to sign a release of liability form for the event. We would like to digitize the process, emailing the form in-line (within the body of an email), and having the parent email their permission and release back.

In this digital age, what would suffice in place of the customary parent signature? Just a return email (just hit reply and add no message)? An actual message that makes the parent list their name and their child's name? Should we email a receipt-of-release back to the parent to make sure the parent(s) sent the email?

Note that for our purposes, this is a 4-day camping trip for which the parents pay $200. So it is not like the child could attend without the parents' knowledge. Could we possibly even dispense with a release form altogether and state that payment of the $200 includes an implicit release?

Thanks in advance.


Asked on 8/11/10, 9:21 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Your school's insurance carrier or attorney should be consulted. They will tell you what language to use, and in all probability they will want a wet-ink signature on a pieve of paper.

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Answered on 8/16/10, 10:24 am
Bryan Becker Becker Attorneys

You should definitely consult school counsel-I would recommend consideration of the California digital signature law:

Under California law, a digital signature is defined as "an electronic identifier, created by computer, intended by the party using it to have the same force and effect as the use of a manual signature."

Government Code section 16.5 states a digital signature shall have the same force and effect as a manual signature if and only if:

1. It is unique to the person using it.

2. It is capable of verification.

3. It is under the sole control of the person using it.

4. It is linked to data in such a manner that if the data are changed, the digital signature is invalidated, and

5. It conforms to regulations adopted by the Secretary of State.

Regards,

Bryan

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Answered on 8/16/10, 10:48 am


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