Although it’s easy to assume that a legal firm would have greater checks and balances than the average business, blind trust in our HR department’s verification abilities isn’t always enough to avoid fraudulent applicants slipping through the net.

Today, everything we do is online and digital versions of official documents are easy to translate and forge. If you’ve seen the TV series Suits, you can imagine the serious risk of a law firm taking on an unaccredited lawyer.

Thankfully, technological advances in the verification space are beginning to step in where manual CVs, references, and plain old nepotism have failed. Digital credentials, among other things, are becoming a vital step in the HR process.

Digital credentials built on blockchain technology are a new way forward for law firms hiring staff, allowing them to verify an applicant’s credentials and instantly confirm that they are a valid and verified candidate.

Digital credentials, often represented as digital badges, are a virtual acknowledgement of an earned qualification and/or certification, demonstrated skill or professional achievement. Each credential contains secure metadata about the recipient, including their achievements and activities, as well as the authority or organisation that issued the credential, the date issued and expiry date if applicable, and a description of the credential.

Blockchain technology gives firms the ability to verify applicants’ credentials quickly and easily, adding an extra layer of transparency and trust. Legal firms can quickly dismiss candidates who do not meet the minimum criteria and also compare credentials more easily for desired skills, knowledge or experience. This facilitates an easier process to put the right people with the right skills and knowledge in the right roles.

Credentials can range from qualifications such as a bachelor’s degree to certifications, such as your practising certificate, professional memberships to legal societies, professional indemnity insurance, professional development, as well as proof of supervised legal practice. By the time a graduate takes their credentials to an employer, they’ll have a much more well-rounded view of their achievements, qualifications, experience and skills.

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Blockchain technology is an important aspect of digital badges. This web 3.0 technology will eventually be built into all digital credentials, giving firms the ability to verify quickly and easily, adding an extra layer of transparency and trust. Blockchain means digital credentials are private, cannot be tampered with, and remain in the digital “ledger” permanently. This isn’t a sci-fi pipe dream: the University of Melbourne has been using blockchain to issue its digital credentials since 2017.

Credentials are stored in a digital passport or portfolio that can then be shared confidentially with businesses, employers or organisations that need to know, or publicly via social media, email, or text message. A good digital credential system should be secure, verifiable, flexible and shareable, with encrypted data stored on secure local servers so that credentials cannot be copied or tampered with in any way.

Digital credentialing and badging can offer huge benefits to legal institutions, employers, and businesses to save them the expensive, long-term costs of a potentially incorrect or unverified hire. With the talent war raging and HR teams stretched to breaking point, this new wave of verification technology can’t come soon enough.

Nicholas Robert is the co-founder and chief executive of Learning Vault.