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In 2017, Michael L. Closen, the most credentialed notary professional (notary public / notary instructor /  National Notary Association (NNA) lecturer / attorney / law professor / expert witness for assessing notary liability in court / author of Professor Closen’s Notary Best Practices (2018)) proclaimed that "a well-done, detailed notary journal entry could, and now should, reference the capacity/competence of the document signer to show . . . that the notary had exercised reasonable care in performing the notarization."

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But Professor Closen didn’t stop there.  He set the INDUSTRY STANDARD for notary liability protection 

by teaching his notary students to “journalize” their compliance by logging all of their Notarial Protocols (e.g. oath given to signer) in each journal entry.    Click video to watch @ 28:22-34:13. 

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Why is Professor Closen so adamant that all notaries (including Certified Notary Trust Delivery Agents and Signing Agents) log our Notarial Protocols?  Because the meticulous and habitual nature of notary work legally confers INHERENT RELIABILITY to the contents of each journal entry, and thereby makes our entries admissible in court as evidence of what you did (or did not do).     So by logging your lawfully performed Notarial Protocols in each journal entry, you are protecting yourself in writing from later claims (in civil & criminal courts; and by your state agency that disciplines notaries) that you neglected to: 

   ✦  assess the signer's capacity (to notarize)

   ✦  assess the signer's voluntary participation

   ✦  assess the signer's identification as proper (ID photo is signer; signature matches ID & document)

   ✦  administer an oath/affirmation to signers & credible witnesses​

   ✦  provide client advance notice of travel fees

   ✦  perform any other Notarial Protocols required by your state.

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But given the maximum flat notary fee imposed in every U.S. state (per notarial act for general notaries; per real estate package for Signing Agents), we earn less when our signings take longer . . . so why would we want to lengthen the signing process to also log our Notarial Protocols (spoiler alert ... it takes under

3 seconds with a quick-fill Guardian Notary Journal)?  

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As an expert witness who testifies in court on the standard of care for notaries in notary-related lawsuits,  Professor Closen advises that beyond reducing the risk of disciplinary action by your state's notary agency (fines, notary commission suspension/revocation & referral for criminal investigation and/or prosecution),  journalizing lawfully performed Notarial Protocols can shield notaries (and their employers) from milliions of dollars in liability in civil lawsuits . . . because the journal entry serves as written evidence that we actually performed our Notarial Protocols, and did so properly.  Click video to watch @ 12:30-14:19 & 28:22-34:13).

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​​Even more is at risk with high dollar value signings (real estate & estate plans).  We are dutifully performing our Notarial Protocols anyway, so the grade school instruction to 'show your work' makes even more sense for Signing Agents (NSA/LSA) & Certified Notary Trust Delivery Agents (CNTDA) to help us better protect our notary commissions, our businesses and ourselves from claims of negligence or worse.  ​

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We all work hard to earn and maintain our notary commissions, but lawsuits are filed every day against people who did nothing wrong, so don't let yourself become an easy target.  Instead, take the easy route to guard against protracted and expensive litigation by simply logging your Notarial Protocols in your journal

. . . which is fast and easy to do with a GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNAL. ​​​

 

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​Beyond being the most efficient yet comprehensive, truly state-specific and well-organized logbooks

[sold exclusively on Amazon], only quick-fill GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNALS empower every notary (whether Signing Agent, Certified Notary Trust Delivery Agent or general Notary Public) to better protect  ourselves from liability by easily logging in each journal entry (via checkboxes & circling pre-printed text) the state-specific Notarial Protocols we observed . . .  and in under 3 seconds !

 

 

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For nearly 5,000 years, notaries have been protecting the PUBLIC (from identity theft and other fraud) . . . but NOTARIES deserve, and can now have protection too with a quick-fill GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNAL.