258,254 New York Notaries Commemorate National Notary Day on November 7, 2024

The 258,254 State of New York Notary Public commission holders join the four and a half million Notaries in the United States to mark the annual commemoration of "National Notary Day" on November 7*, 2024.

"On October 25*, 1639, Thomas Fugill (1577-1655) is recognized as the duly appointed (deputy) magistrate and "publique notary" for New Haven Colony in the early settlement of American New England," said Alfred E. Piombino, a leading legal scholar specializing in this niche area of American Jurisprudence.

"Originally appointed by the Executive Chamber of New York and ratified by the State Senate, New York Notaries are still appointed by the Executive Branch; however, the Secretary of State now appoints them for the Governor. A Notary Public is classified as a Constitutional Officer of the State of New York which is boldly denoted on the state commission credential that every Notary Public receives," said Piombino.

"Similar to town and village judges in New York, Notaries in the United States are not required to be law school graduates or lawyers. This is in stark contrast to the worldwide custom where, in order to be even considered for a Notary appointment, a person must be both a law school graduate and an experienced lawyer - in virtually every other country, including Great Britain (the United Kingdom has a total of 750 Notaries), the homeland of Mr. Fugill. However, much to the chagrin of many foreign Notaries around the world, the acts of all United States Notaries are afforded equal recognition as the acts of those lawyer-Notaries," Piombino explains.

According to state government records, of the currently licensed 187,656 New York lawyers, only 57,751 are also holders of a Notary appointment - a relatively small segment of the New York Notary census of 258,254.

"A Notary Public has many statutory powers similar to what is formerly known as a justice of the peace and is empowered to officiate myriad solemnizations including administer oaths and affirmations, including oaths of office, take acknowledgments and proofs of executions, take and certify affidavits and depositions, protest dishonored negotiable instruments, supervise the forced opening of safe deposit boxes and certify election petitions - to name just a few," Piombino notes. "The quarter-million New York Notaries are also widely dispersed throughout New York state, not just in businesses and lawyer's offices, but also in government agencies, including court houses, sheriff jails and district attorney's offices - even tribal nation reservations."

"First appointed in 1981 as a New York Notary Public, I easily passed the state law examination because I was a business school student, but I really didn't fully understand the scope and depth of my duty which inspired my further legal research," he adds. "This frustration with a lack of accurate, adequate resources sparked my sense of intellectual curiosity and was the catalyst of forty-plus years of passion for dedicating myself to this legal scholarship, researching, writing and teaching - to not only help other legal practitioners better protect themselves from legal liability, but also to help protect the integrity of the civil and criminal court systems," adds Piombino. "Most Notaries don't know - including lawyer-Notaries - exactly 'what' they don't know."

Piombino is a highly acclaimed teacher, court expert witness, prolific book author, past state court official and former State University of New York (SUNY) college business law faculty. He is the leading scholar on New York Notary Law and Practice and the original curriculum developer, founder and faculty of Notary Public educational programs at scores of public and private colleges throughout New York, including Alfred State College, Cayuga Community College and SUNY Delhi where he can be still be found lecturing today.

He is the founder and past president of the New York State Association of Notaries Public, Inc. and the author of the venerable book, Notary Public Handbook: A Guide for New York, a best-seller with over 100,000 copies sold in New York state. He is a life member and former director of the American Society of Notaries.

For more information, see https://NotaryPublicLaw.us

*October 25, 1639 (Julian calendar) conforms to November 7 (Gregorian calendar, now in use)

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This release was published on openPR.