It’d be reasonable to say that there isn’t any single industry in the modern world that is more reliant on trust, accountability, and a good reputation than the legal industry. In the world of notary and legal support, this is especially true, as the professionals in these spaces are the ones authorized to act in legal affairs while not representing a client or engaging in litigation. The people that bear witness to signatures on binding legal documents, prepare the documents certifying the validity of a legal action, and more are held to a high standard of trust and accountability because to do otherwise risks negating the value of their work outright.
It’s this important fact of the legal industry that underpins Jennifer Garland’s work. As founder, President, and CEO of Prestige Companies Inc. (formerly Prestige Notaries), the leading legal support services company for corporations and law firms in Washington State, accountability, transparency, and high performance are core facets of her career and company. At time of writing, Garland and her company have over 257,000 field agents nationwide, more than $500 million in mass tort victim settlements in under 3 years, and big-name clients including but not limited to White & Case, Vedder Price, and Morgan & Morgan. She’s also the President and CEO of NotaryDash, an innovative digital platform designed to make the notary signing process easy, riskless, and stress-free—all with an eye for compliance with federal and state regulations.
Jennifer Garland has demonstrated her leadership in the legal support industry both through her individual career and through both of her companies, and could not have done so without a strong appreciation and understanding of what it means to build trust. Part of those efforts have been raising notary industry legal standards, specifically in regard to lacking communication, inconsistent service, and recurring payment issues. The legal industry is one historically plagued by inconsistency and uncertainty, and both Prestige Inc. and NotaryDash have meaningfully improved accountability, communication, and reliability wherever they operate.
“We realized that many businesses across the country needed access to reliable mobile notaries and field agents, but there was no efficient national system connecting those professionals with companies that needed their services,” Garland recalls. “Instead of approaching the problem locally, we built a nationwide network and technology platform that could coordinate those services across all 50 states.”
Raising Notary Standards Through Excellence
A common throughline between both Prestige Companies and NotaryDash has been Jennifer Garland’s tech-forward and proactive approach to industry-wide problem solving. Notaries perform critical services whose impact extends beyond that of the legal industry, and the inaccessibility and communicative unreliability of those services—especially in certain parts of the country—were major barriers. Garland’s answer was a combination of technological innovation and a paradigm shift from thinking locally to building scalable national infrastructure.
Prestige Inc. is built upon an expansive database of skilled and experienced notaries around the country, connecting clients with a broad array of notary services and connections. Additionally, Prestige offers training for professionals seeking to enter or enhance their skills in the field, thus serving the industry in both a service and developmental capacity. NotaryDash, Garland’s other company, is a platform designed by notary signing agents for other agents and their clients to streamline the mobile signing process. Through these companies' structured systems and processes, improved communication workflows, and scalable support for notaries and clients alike, Prestige has led innovation and set a high bar for the industry.
Garland has high expectations for the future of the space, and new technologies promise to lead the charge in future developments. Foremost among these is the rise of practical, AI-powered automation and workflow automation tools for small businesses, which have the potential to lend small businesses the same tools for streamlining operations, improving accuracy, and scaling efficiently that previously were only available to the big tech giants.
“Whether it’s AI reviewing legal documents for missing signatures or an automation pipeline that launches a new reconnect campaign from a form, I use innovation to protect our standards while pushing forward,” she explains. “It’s not about replacing people—it’s about empowering them to do higher-value work. That’s the future I build toward: grounded in traditional values, driven by smart systems.”
Building Trust Through Leadership
Like any successful businessperson, Jennifer Garland wouldn’t have made it to this stage in her career as either an entrepreneur or as a legal professional if she wasn’t capable of building and maintaining trust. She’s built her career on leading with integrity, delivering with consistency, and communicating with clarity—three ironclad principles that define her leadership philosophy and underpin her business operations. Her secret to putting those key values into action is simple: build robust, smart systems backed by high expectations.
“I’ve built systems that ensure quality is never left to chance—whether it’s a notary appointment, a document handoff, or a client reconnection,” says Garland. “We train thoroughly, vet our people, and follow clear procedures to avoid errors before they happen. But beyond the systems, it comes down to mindset: I expect excellence, and I model it.”
No matter how robust, there will inevitably come a situation in which any given system either fails or underperforms, and that is where leadership (and trust) is tested. Whether a problem is a client concern, team feedback, or a mistake, Garland and her teams see these moments as opportunities to strengthen their systems and raise their standards. With a clear vision of what success looks like, and a willingness to take accountability and consider feedback about how best to achieve it, the right team and right leadership turn accountability moments into innovation.
“When people trust you enough to speak up, that’s a chance to grow,” Garland explains. “I use that input to improve training, tighten procedures, and set clearer expectations. Professional growth doesn’t come from avoiding problems—it comes from facing them head-on, learning fast, and leveling up. That’s how I stay sharp and keep my companies moving forward.”
