You probably found this page because your company is in the process of obtaining an Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificate for your company's website. As a part of that process, your Certification Authority (CA) has asked you to obtain a professional opinion from an attorney or CPA as to certain facts about your business. I am a Minnesota attorney, and I can provide this extended letter to most businesses in the United States for only $99.

Different CA's use different procedures to verify your information. But in most cases, they ask you to obtain an outside professional opinion to verify some of the information. Most commonly, they will ask for the lawyer's or CPA's professional opinion about the validity of the following items:

• Your company's corporate structure.
• The validity of your assumed name, if any.
• Your physical location.
• Your telephone number.
• Your domain name.
• The authority of the person who signed the EV documents.
• Your bank account.

Different CA's request different information in the attorney or CPA opinion letter, but these are generally the items they need verified. After the CA receives an opinion letter from the lawyer, the CA will follow up to make sure that the letter really came from that attorney. The CA can do this follow up in one of two ways: They can confirm the attorney's phone number in the phone book and simply call. Or in some cases, they will confirm the attorney's address from the state supreme court's website, and then follow up by mailing a copy of the letter back to the attorney.

In most cases, I can provide this opinion letter and take care of the follow-up contacts for $99. In the rare cases that I can't do it for this price, I will refund 100% of your fee and recommend that you retain a local attorney. Such cases are very rare. In most cases, I will be able to provide you with the opinion letter that you need. I normally get to work the same day I receive your request. It will generally take about a week to complete the process, since some documents must be sent by mail. If you need faster service, please contact me, and we can make arrangements to do some or all of the verification by express mail and/or in person.

In some cases, it will be easier for you to have your local attorney or CPA write the letter for you. However, your own attorney or CPA has probably never done such a letter before, and understandably, they are going to need to do some research before signing their name to a document they don't understand. And they will have to charge you for the time spent doing this research and preparation. Since I am already familiar with the process, I don't need to charge you for that time. Like you, I operate a small business, and I realize the importance of keeping expenses to a minimum. But I will also act with integrity in preparing my opinion, since I know that it is being relied upon by the CA. I also know that it is being relied upon by members of the public when they do business through secure websites. I take this responsibility seriously, and I will not cut corners on the verification process. In those rare cases that I'm unable to verify the information, I will refund your fee, but you are still protected by the confidentiality of the attorney-client relationship.

I am an attorney in Minnesota, and I have been in practice for over twenty years. (If you are in a state other than Minnesota, then you need to be aware that I am admitted to practice law in Minnesota, but not in any other state. Therefore, I cannot give you legal advice based on any other state's laws. My opinion letter will be based upon Minnesota law, but I can write a letter on behalf of any company in the United States. I am not able to provide this service to companies outside the United States.) (Note: Digicert currently requires that the attorney be admitted in your state. Therefore, unless this policy has changed, I am not able to provide letters for Digicert customers outside of Minnesota. But most certifying authorities, including GoDaddy, Starfield, GeoTrust, and VeriSign, will accept my letters for clients anywhere in the U.S.)

If you would like to retain me to prepare an opinion letter, please contact me by e-mail or phone. After your initial contact, I will ask you to send me some or all of the following information and documents:

• Copies of the documents you received from your CA. Generally, they will provide a sheet listing the exact information they need in the opinion letter. Sometimes they provide a sample opinion letter. These documents generally include the following information:
  • The name of the CA, and any special instructions they have for opinion letters
  • CA's file number
  • Your company name
  • Any name under which you are "doing business as"
  • The name of the person from the company who requested the certificate
  • The state where you are organized or incorporated
  • The street address where your company does business
  • The company phone number
  • Your domain name
• If your company is listed in your local telephone directory, a copy of the page showing your listing, which shows the same phone number shown above. Also include a copy of the cover of that same phone book and/or the title page.
• If your company is not listed in the phone directory with that number, then include a copy of a recent phone bill for that number. The copy you send me must show the number and the name and address of the person responsible for the phone service.
• A document showing that you have the right to use your domain name. If a WHOIS search for your domain name shows your company name and address, this is sufficient. But if the WHOIS search shows an unrelated company (as often happens), then I'll need a copy of some document (such as a bill from your hosting provider).
• A check payable to me from your company's bank account. Normally, this check will be in the amount of $99, and will serve as my payment. If, for some reason, you want to pay my fee by some other method, that is acceptable. But you will still need to send me a corporate check for at least one dollar. I will verify the account number with your bank, and I will also cash this check. The check must be drawn on a U.S. bank or other financial institution (such as a credit union). I can accept credit card payments, and if you prefer to pay this way, just let me know and I'll give you instructions. If you pay by credit card, that payment will be for $98, and you will need to send a corporate check in the amount of $1.
  
  (It has become more common for small companies not to have paper checks. If this is the case, there are alternate methods I can use to verify your bank account.)

After I have received this information, I will verify it. Depending on your situation, the steps that I take to verify might vary. But typically, my verification process will include the following:

• I will verify that your company is incorporated properly. Normally, I will do this by verifying the information on your state's website or by calling the appropriate office in your state.
• I will send one or two letters by U.S. Mail. One will be addressed to the company name. The other letter will be sent to the contact person listed on your state's website. Normally, this person will be an officer of your company, or the company's registered agent. I will first let you know the person's name, so that you can alert him or her about the letter. These letters will contain code words, and you and/or the person receiving the letter will need to give those code words back to me, to confirm that they received the letter. In some cases, these letters might request additional information.
• I will do a WHOIS search of your domain listing. If your company name is not shown in this listing, I will send a letter or e-mail to the "registrant contact", "administrative contact" and/or "technical contact" shown in the WHOIS database. That person will not need to reply, but they will be informed of your EV application.
• I will verify your company's phone number, by calling, and/or by looking it up in various databases.
• I will cash your check, and may also contact your bank for verification of the account.
• Depending on your situation, and on the information requested by your CA, I might take other steps to verify your information.

Assuming that I am satisfied with my verification, I will send the opinion letter, either to you, and/or directly to your CA. If I do encounter any problems, I will contact you. In the unlikely event that I'm not able to write the letter, I'll refund your entire fee.

At that point, I will wait for the CA to contact me, and when they do, I will confirm that I really sent the letter.

My goal is to make this process as easy as possible for you, while still maintaining a high level of integrity in issuing my opinion. If you have any questions at any point during the process, please do not hesitate to contact me.

To begin the process, please first contact me by e-mail or phone. My e-mail address is clem.law@usa.net and my phone number is 612-378-7751. Please contact me before sending any documents, since I need to ensure that I have no conflict of interest before taking your case. I will then ask you to send me the documents shown above. If, for some reason, you are not able to send one of the documents, please let me know. In some cases, I might be able to consider alternate documents.

Normally, the whole process will take about one week.

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Copyright 2010-2016, Richard P. Clem. Attorney Richard P. Clem is responsible for the content of this page.

Richard P. Clem, Attorney
PO Box 14957
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: 612-378-7751
e-mail: clem.law@usa.net
Minnesota Attorney Registration Number 0192648