Like other remote-friendly businesses, e-signature companies have seen a rise in client interest over the last few months as attorneys and other professionals look for ways to keep deals moving absent the opportunity for face-to-face interactions. Still, whether that newfound enthusiasm can withstand continuing regulatory obstacles remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure: E-signature technology is having a moment. Last week, for example, CNBC reported that DocuSign's stock had reached an all-time high, replacing United Airlines on the Nasdaq 100 index. On the other end, SimplyAgree CEO Will Norton said as many law firms approached his startup company in the months of March and April as did in the entirety of last year.

But despite the growing popularity of e-signature tech, a patchwork of state laws still put some restrictions on the use of such tools. Laws governing the use of electronic notary signatures, for instance, still vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, with some requiring that notaries and clients be physically present in the same room.

However, Steve Krause, senior vice president for strategy and product marketing at DocuSign, indicated that regulatory obstacles have always been a part of the equation, and many of the company's early years were spent both overcoming those hurdles and then convincing a "critical mass of prospects" of the viability of e-signatures.

"We expect the same thing that happened with e-signature to happen with other areas of regulatory complexity, such as notarization or, in the EU, advanced and qualified signatures. There already are technical solutions, and in many cases, there already are established regulations. It just takes time for everybody to get comfortable with change," Krause said.

In the meantime, clients may be content not to take an all-or-nothing approach. Norton at SimplyAgree indicated that the company allows users to toggle back and forth between the use of handwritten and e-signatures on the same deal. Thus far, those customers seem content to use e-signatures to speed the process along where they can, even if a few stages must remain analog for regulatory purposes.

Like Krause, he believes that regulations will eventually be updated to reflect the potential of e-notarization, but doesn't believe the company will suffer in the meantime given that it can still streamline the contract process, if not execute it from end-to-end. "From our perspective, our customers are going to close their deals one way or another, whether they use e-notarization or not," Norton said.

Still, it could help that the future probably won't be entirely determined by the regulatory landscape, especially as e-signatures remain a crucial part of a broadening contract ecosystem. While a pandemic-related surge in interest may have helped to propel DocuSign to the Nasdaq 100, the company's March acquisition of contact analytics provider Seal Software likely also helped.

Scott Olrich, chief operating officer at DocuSign, had previously told LTN that Seal's AI technology would be integrated into the cloud's agreement suite, with the resulting features including the ability to auto-tag documents for signatures and dates. Other capabilities, such as blockchain-connected code that can monitor and execute contract requirements when triggered, represent another path to growth.

"This type of capability is an investment area for us, and it will be important in the future," Krause said.