In the Headlines
September 28, 2020

Your Top Innovators: Josias Dewey Pushed for Automated PPP Loan Closings

Daily Business Review

Financial Services Partner Josias Dewey was interviewed by the Daily Business Review as part of its "Top Innovators" series. He described the innovative steps Holland & Knight has taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying a priority for the firm has been developing and integrating technology solutions to improve transaction workflows. One notable example is the development of a platform to automate loan closings under the Paycheck Protection Program for banking clients, which included integrating DocuSign to generate loan documents, control the routing of loan packages and handle all aspects of document execution. Utilizing DocuSign saved time and expenses while allowing hundreds of loans to be processed with all parties working remotely, in addition providing stronger identification verification to ensure document integrity.

When asked about what the legal profession still needs to do to move forward post-pandemic, Mr. Dewey said, "Firms must better align economic and financial incentives. That includes modifying how we reward different types of contributions to the firm. Too often, our economic incentives reward the least efficient approach to tackling a problem. This also makes it even more challenging to persuade individuals to make investments of time and resources."

READ: Your Top Innovators: Josias Dewey Pushed for Automated PPP Loan Closings (Subscription required)

Related News and Headlines