I've posted in the past‍ regarding acceptance of electronic signatures in commercial real estate transactions, so I was very pleased to be contacted by Beth Matson-Teig regarding her new article for the Shopping Center Times titled "Sign of the Times--Electronic Signatures are Just as Legal as a Pen and Paper, and they Make Deals Happen a Lot Faster Too," Pages 52-55, November 2014.  In the article, Beth highlights a switch that Weingarten Realty Investors has recently made to promoting e-signatures as well as other changes across the real estate industry.  "Weingarten expects to realize considerable efficiencies and savings by eliminating the printing and sending of originals documents by mail or special delivery.  Those savings add up.  Weingarten completes some 1,200 renewals per year, and the firm estimates that that the electronic distribution of documents saves roughly 1.5 and 4 hours per renewal among leasing agents, lawyers, and assistants."  My role in the article was to discuss with Beth the legal underpinnings of use of e-signatures.