GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNALS are the INDUSTRY STANDARD
“Anything worth doing ... is worth doing well” has been my guiding tenet in the legal field (30 years) and as a notary public (12 years). When searching for my 1st notary journal in 2013, most were ill-proportioned, illogically organized, physically awkward to use, and totally inefficient ... so I decided to create my own.
​
Over 2 years, I analyzed ~500 journals, researched the laws of each U.S. state for (i) permissible notary acts (ii) data logging mandates and (iii) book size/binding rules to design my ultimate journal entry. Originally, my goal was to create the most efficient, comprehensive, well-proportioned, methodical and truly state-specific notary journals . . . but my research revealed one new tool (actually, a new use of an old tool) that no notary should be without - the ability to better protect yourself from liability.
​
Protocols protect the Notary too . . . IF you LOG them
The old tool that can be your best tool is a comprehensive notary journal. Here's why that's important.
Notary work is grounded in one foundational legal principle. The meticulous and habitual nature of notary work confers INHERENT RELIABILITY to each journal entry* which is also cumulative (i.e. the more entries you fill, the more your pattern of proper [or improper] notarial practices is established). Most of us never learn this legal principle because notary education is largely voluntary. But this legal principle is critical because we can use it to help protect us from liability for misconduct (in civil and criminal lawsuits) and even disciplinary fines (imposed by your Secretary of State or other agency regulating notaries public).
​
Upon learning this legal principle, my immediate thought was to likewise bolster the reliability of our NOTARIAL PROTOCOLS (e.g. signer's capacity, voluntary participation, and proper ID confirmed; oath/affirmation given etc.), which we perform with equal systematic diligence by simply logging them in our journals too (via my quick-fill checkboxes).
​
To my surprise, renowned notary public / author of Professor Closen's Notary Best Practices (2018) / attorney / law professor / frequent NATIONAL NOTARY ASSOCIATION lecturer Michael Closen had already set this INDUSTRY STANDARD in 2017 by instructing his notary students to log their NOTARIAL PROTOCOLS in each journal entry. For example, Professor Closen says 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.” M. Closen & M. Phillips (2017) Issues Surrounding Mental Capacity for Document Signers [slideshow], National Notary Association, page 25 (click slide presentation).
​
Professor Closen continues to reinforce how journalizing our Notarial Protocols [e.g. confirming signer's capacity and voluntary participation in the notarization and proper identification (i.e. signer matches ID photo & description; signer's signature matches ID); administration of an oath/affirmation; and many more] can shield notaries (and their employers) from milliions of dollars in liability . . . because the habitual but simple process of logging our Notarial Protocols in each journal entry serves as written evidence (in court) that we actually performed them and did so properly. Michael Closen (2019) Notary Law & Ethics: Avoiding Liability by Exercising Reasonable Care & Avoiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law (click slide presentation to view slide 10 or click video presentation to watch minutes 12:30-14:20 & 28:20-34:00).
​
Unlike any other logbook today, my 24 quick-fill GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNALS empower you to better protect yourself from liability for misconduct and associated discplinary fines. Simply check off (and thereby evidence your compliance with) the particular Notarial Protocols you are performing anyway
. . . and log them all in under 3 seconds!
​
When purchasing your next notary journal, choose wisely. Don't make yourself a target. Ensure your next notary journal helps you:
-
notarize more efficiently (thereby increasing the number of signings you can do per day)
-
conclude with an accurate, comprehensive, legible and easily understood journal entry and
-
evidence your compliance with your state's notarial protocols to afford you better protection from liability long after each notarization ends.