Legal documents often include a multipart signature line.  That is,
they have a line that looks like this:

By_____________________

where one actually signs, and then a line that looks like this

Its______________________

where one puts one?s title.

My question is simply this: as described, what does ?Its? abbreviate? 
I?ve done about an hour of Web searching on this and I?m about to pull
out all of my hair!  Searching for ?Its? is futile because you pull up
every page that?s got ?its? (possessive pronoun) on it.  Trying to
look for legal abbreviations is futile because in legal parlance,
?abbreviation? refers to compilations of case citations.

I?ve tried to back into this by looking up Latin phrases, but haven?t
had much luck.  I suspect the ?s? might be for sigillum (Latin for
sign) but I can?t even verify that.

Help!

---

Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 11 Feb 2004 19:07 PST

Hi Czilla,

In what sort of legal document did you see this?  A contract?  A will?
A deed? Articles of incorporation?

Is the document such that the signer is signing on behalf of another entity?

Example:

I swear that the J.B. Corporation is in full compliance with the law.
Signed by: Joe Blow 
Its: President

Greetings Czilla:

Release those tresses!  Juggler's suggestion is spot-on: "Its" is used
when signing on behalf of an entity.

Contract instructions located at www.cityofseattle.net/
DCLU/SideSewer/Agreements/Special_Sewer_Connection_Contract_Instructions.pdf
read:

"For each entity owner, enter the date the document is signed on the
Date line and the name of the entity owner on the signature line....
? Print the name of the entity Owner on the "Printed Name" line...
? The person signing on behalf of the Owner should sign the line
following "By:" ...
? After "Its" indicate the title/authority of the person signing the
document on behalf of the entity.


Hope this helps you keep all that hair.  :)

Best regards,
journalist-ga


Search Strategy:

"signature line" contract "Its"

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 11 Feb 2004 21:58 PST

Ack.  My apologies for failing to include the URL beginning.  Here's
the link again:

http://www.cityofseattle.net/
DCLU/SideSewer/Agreements/Special_Sewer_Connection_Contract_Instructions.pdf

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 11 Feb 2004 22:00 PST

Now, I"M going to start some hair pulling!  LOL  Let's try this ONE more time:

http://www.cityofseattle.net/DCLU/SideSewer/Agreements/Special_Sewer_Connection_Contract_Instructions.pdf

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 12 Feb 2004 08:56 PST

I want to add that "Its" in this instance is not an abbreviation but a
possessive pronoun.  As in "The company and its mission"  or "The
corporation and its staff welcome your inquiries."

Best regards,
journalist-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by czilla-ga on 13 Feb 2004 11:04 PST

Journalist-ga:

I appreciate your help.  It is sort of ironic that ?Its? is the
possessive pronoun.  I ignored that possibility, assuming the ?Its?
was an acronym or abbreviation (as described in my question).

Having signed many documents involving such a convention, I knew the
?Its? indicated the inclusion of one?s title.  Seeing the ?t? and ?s,?
I assumed the Latin words for title (?titulus?) and sign (?sigillum?)
were involved.  So the presumed phrase would have indicated ?mark of
one?s title? or something like that.

Ah, how far astray one can go making assumptions?

Thanks again.

Czilla-ga