I work full time as a paralegal in the trusts and estates field. I notarize documents at my place of work and I am wondering if starting a signing agent business on the side could be a conflict of interest. I paid for my own notary commission and supplies. Would I have to refuse signings if the customer is a client or adverse party of my law firm? Would it be advisable to tell my employer of my plans to start a signing agent business?
My $.02 FWIW
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No, I donāt believe it would be a conflict of interest
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Yes, I would tell my employer just out of respect but would agree to not harvest clients from them. (I, too, was a paralegal and I did tell my bosses. I also did not conduct any NSA business in the office on office time)
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If the signer is an adverse party of your firm ā¦ Well, this is just me. If I have that knowledge in advance, I would refer them to another notary.
Hope this helps.
2 Likes
You always give sound and reasonable adviceā¦ I agree with everything you said 
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Iād definitely ask the employer. I suspect the firm would view their field of work as ālawā and anything in that field would be off-limits. So you might get away with notarizing a permission slip for an international school field trip, but Iād be surprised if the firm would go along with any of the stuff that signing agents usually get appointments for.
Doesnāt your firm use mobile notaries? Why canāt it be you. Show them VALUE !
GREAT question to pose to attorneys at your firm as they would be able to give you the legal advice you are seeking.
How would you get the information to tell if a customer is an adverse party or a client of the firm? Do you ask for their name before accepting an assignment? How would you perform a conflict check using the database of clients at the firm?
They use me as an in-house notary for free.
I always worked for small firms so it was easy to know. Iād guess if your firm is larger you could always run it by someone in the know in the office to make sure.
If it is LSA work that was assigned to you from a SS or TC I donāt see how that would be a conflict of interest. If it was GNW and they called you directly (assuming that you advertised your availability after your office closes) and you meet them on your own time? I would absolutely let your employer know and maybe come to some type of agreement or a standard of operations for how you would run your business and get it in a memorandum of understanding so you have a record of it.
@LindaH-FL has provided the same advice I would have offered. Iāll that it depends on the type of engagement youāre handling. If its for an adverse party step carefully. If thereās any doubt, ask to have the engagement reassigned. If the SS or title asks why, tell them thereās non-disclosable conflict of interest. This is especially the case it involves Estate assets, wills or property transfers that would conflict with your role as a paralegal. Make certain you disclose to your employer youāve been in contact with a party in conflict. Lawyer donāt want one of these hidden treasures showing up in court.
My experience as a reader of notary message boards since 1999 is that its common for paralegals to moonlight as signing agents. Some even brag about using their employer as a back office for supplies, scanning and printing. I think itās a natural fit you should take full advantage of.
Iām just going to weigh in for a second here.
Thereās multiple types of conflicts being discussed.
The first is the employer/employee conflict of interest, which can be resolved with open discussion, clear rules of engagement and written authorization to proceed with the signing business under those criteria.
The second is more complex and involved, relating to the ABA and/or state bar rules of conduct. These conflicts could result in disciplinary action, up to disbarment. In certain cases, the conflict can be resolved by waiver from the affected clients; in many cases, especially with adverse parties, the conflict cannot be resolved even with waiver and the agreement of all parties.
As the attorneys in the firm may be held accountable for the actions of paralegals, it is clearly something they should decide; it is quite possibly their license and livelihood on the line.
Finally, although some states do not have a āparalegalā license or credential, some others do. States in which paralegals hold some kind of licensure also provide ethical guidance for these kinds of situation, in the form of written rules of conduct
All of these rules, guidelines and agreement are cumulative; situations may necessitate looking at the situation from more than one of the afore-mentioned perspectives
HWB.
The original poster, smatteinotary, might not be in trouble with the officials who regulate notaries in smatteinotaryās state. But smattienotary might be in trouble with his/her employer for a variety of reasons, such as those mentioned in hbleiwasās post.
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