I think a faxed signature counts as a "wet" signature. Also it's easier to sign then feed into a fax machine than:

- sign - scan (usually sent as a weird filename to your corporate email) - save the attachment, rename the file, create a new email, attach the file, send

That's why we have DocuSign!

"Wet signature" being a term with some legal standing. DocuSign, not so much, other than for preliminary real estate actions.

Could you elaborate on the "not so much"? A lot of companies (including law firms and Fortune 100 corps) have had me sign documents with DocuSign/HelloSign with no reservation. What would be the potential legal differences compared to an actual signature?

I'm working on the California death certificate automation system. DocuSign is not legally accepted for a doctor to sign off on cause of death for a decedent.

Laws for your use case will be different. That's mine.

47 states (New York, Washington and Illinois the outliers) have passed an Uniform Electronic Transaction Act that confers electronic signatures with equal weight. A federal law has existed since 2000. Unfortunately a self-fulfilling prophecy of people not accepting the validity of electronic agreements because no one else does has kept usage low. Even faxed contracts are often followed up with Fedex delivered versions. The only electronic agreement I've done is FAFSA's PIN blessed submission. The recent high profile payment card breaches and politician email doxxing have further decreased public confidence in all things computerized.

> For some reason the fax is legally sounder than email.

I suspect that faxes have been around for so long, and tested in court so many times, that by this time they are as good as holding the original if a lawsuit were to happen.