When your client does not believe that he signed a document, it is time to dig a little deeper. It may be plain to him that he would not knowingly have signed such an agreement, but when you see the signature, it looks okay to you. So, how do you solve this dilemma? It may be the time to call for the assistance of a handwriting expert so you can plan your approach to this case. Better contact a Forensic Document Examiner.
Hiring a Handwriting Expert to Examine Your Signature
Your handwriting expert will want to compare the signature in question to a good number of contemporary course-of-business signatures. Because we don’t sign the same way twice, you will want to provide enough samples to represent his range of variation. How will you know what is enough? You won’t, but your expert will ask for more if she needs them.
Are You Working With a Genuine Signature?
While performing her examination, your expert will be considering two possibilities – your client signed, and this is his genuine signature, or he didn’t sign, making this signature something other than genuine. Keep in mind that it is much easier to prove the positive half of this assignment. If the evidence points toward your client as the writer, you and he may need to talk. On the other hand, if there is evidence that suggests he did not sign, you will want to know how much you can rely on this opinion.
Can You Prove That Your Client Did Not Sign the Document?
As an attorney, you know that proving the negative is a challenge. The most reliable way to prove your client did not sign this document is to either identify someone else as the writer or determine that he does not have the skill or artistic ability to write the signature in question. Rarely will the opinion of “did not write” be definitive unless one of these exists. Other indicators of fabrication or simulation may be present, such as irregular line quality, tremor, or awkwardness. By themselves, these characteristics are not enough to disqualify your client as the writer, especially if there was a good reason for him to disavow his signature later. The handwriting expert’s opinion encompasses the entirety of handwriting characteristics and physical evidence. The handwriting expert bases her opinion on the totality of handwriting characteristics and material evidence. To exclude your client as a possible writer of the questioned signature is to state that under no circumstances could he have written it. For this reason, a competent expert is cautious about excluding a writer.
Talking With Your Expert Examiner After the Examinations
Once your expert has completed both examinations and weighed the significance of the evidence, she will provide you with a written report. Included will be an explanation of the degree of confidence she has in her opinion (given the evidence at hand) and the reasons for her conclusions. Later, she can also assist with court preparation, opposing expert critiques, rebuttal or expert witness testimony.
Find a Handwriting Expert to Examine Your Signature
Choosing the right qualified Handwriting Expert may mean the difference between winning or losing your case. If you are in Southern California, contact Forensic QDE Lab, LLC and speak with Linda L. Mitchell a Certified Forensic Document Examiner and a dependable resource for your case. Do you have questions for Linda? Give us a call at 888-760-0339 today or text 760-456-2503 with any questions!