The profession of scrivener notary is a highly specialised one and has grown out of the unique position of the City of London as an international trading centre. Nearly all the work of scrivener notaries is of an international nature, although they are competent to advise on certain domestic matters as well.

Scrivener notaries are trained not only in English law, but also in relevant aspects of the law of a foreign country. They are also examined in two foreign languages. This places them in a unique position to provide a bridge between the common law system prevalent in the English speaking world, and the civil law system found in many other parts of the world, including most countries in continental Europe and the whole of Latin America. Scrivener notaries are therefore able to certify documents in many languages and also to prepare legal documents - for example powers of attorney - in the form and language of the country in which they are to be used.

We aim to provide a personal and efficient service for our clients and to provide timely and practical solutions to clients’ problems based on a thorough understanding of their needs.

Within its specialised areas of law, the firm provides a full range of notarial services with a foreign element or cross-border context. In this context, the main areas of activity are:

• Authentication and drafting of legal documents for use overseas
• Legalisation of documents - for legalisation requirements, have a look at our list of Languages & Legalisation
• Trade Marks & Patents
• Business Start-up and corporate administration
• Purchase and Sale of overseas real property
• Inheritance
• Wills and Trusts
• Work and residence permits
• Bills of exchange
• Ballots (new issues); stock & bond redemption
• Construction project tendering
• Shipping
• Exchange control and foreign investment formalities
• Translation - what language do they speak?