About the Firm and our Notary work

Kober-Smith & Associates was established in 2004 by Mark Kober-Smith,  to provide Notary Public services in London. Mark Kober-Smith qualified as a solicitor in 1990, with the City firm now known as DLA. Since then he has worked in London and in Kent as a solicitor. He qualified as a Notary Public in 1998.

He is also a qualified translator from French to English.

He is the author of a book published by Cavendish known as “Legal Lobbying” – which draws on his experience of successfully leading the campaign to abolish the statutory monopoly for notaries public in most of London. The book also refers to his work successfully persuading the European Commission to take action against many EU states in respect of trade barriers for notaries.

The legal actions taken by the European Commission have now just been decided. There were 19 infringing states, but the court hearing was against 15 countries, since some of the states have agreed to change their laws in line with the wishes of the European Commission. There was the fullest possible number of judges at the hearings and it will be a key case in European Union Law.

The result of the cases was announced on the 24th May 2011. All 15 of the defending countries were found to have contravened European law by maintaining a nationality requirement for notaries working in their countries. Every argument that the defendants produced in defence of this requirement was examined and rejected.

The aim of Mark’s work  is to open up opportunities for a competitive market, so that people all over Europe will have a better choice of notary, and a more complete and varied overall service. See our News section for further updates.