Can a solicitor's receptionist certify documents?

[Keepyourdistance000]

As the title really. I was rather surprised when upon taking in some paperwork along with my ID, the receptionist checked and certified my true likeness.

Can legal receptionists certify or is this dodgy?

They probably hold a qualification or certification that allows them to certify documents. They aren’t doing it simply by virtue of the fact that they are a receptionist at a solicitor’s office.

Forgot to add they were certifying as all solicitors apparently working from home.

Anyone can certify that a document is a true and accurate copy or that ID matches person, our secretaries used to do it all the time. If you want someone to notarise a document then you would need a solicitor or someone authorised as a notary public.

I've had documents certified by admin staff at solicitors a couple of times - which is why it only cost a tenner, rather than what a solicitor would charge!

I thought you had to have some kind of professional qualification to be able to certify a document, the receptionist might be qualified in some other way but it seems a little unusual, perhaps a covid relaxation of the rules

It’s certified on behalf of the firm, so yes.

It’s only really swears that require a solicitor.

Certifying is different to notarizing.

Anyone, including you, can sign something to say ‘I certify (confirm) that I have seen the original of this document’.

Your op said the document was identification. The receptionist was most likely certifying for the company she works for that she had seen the document abut was a true likeness for ‘know your client’ and money laundering regulations. The firm needs to know that are acting for the real you and need to create a paper trail if they are ever questioned.

Notarization and legalization are different to certifying documents. Those are the processes that are restricted and have more hoops to jump through.

Anyone can certify that a document is a true copy of an original or that an ID is a true likeness, but another entity might not be willing to rely on that. If I was accepting a certification from another firm I wouldn’t be willing to do so if a secretary had undertaken the certification - only if another solicitor had done so.