Article: Electronic Bidding: Lawyer: E-SIGN Act Could Preempt State Laws.

The new federal law on electronic records and signatures, which takes effect on Oct. 1, may preempt state laws that currently require bids for municipal securities to be accepted in the form of written documents, a bond lawyer is warning.

"I don't think a lot of states know that their contract law may be preempted by the new Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act," Wayne D. Gerhold, a lawyer with Thorp Reed & Armstrong in Pittsburgh, said yesterday in a brief interview. The act was approved by Congress and signed by President Clinton in June.

Under the new federal law, known as E-SIGN, two parties are permitted to use an electronic ...

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