Of all the questions that can be asked about a Forensic Document Examiner, the issue of whether or not they are qualified is undoubtedly the most important of all. I have written about it before so you may wish to review the following:
What can a forensic document examiner do for me?
If you are asking this question, I assume you have some type of ‘document’ that is in dispute or being questioned. The answer to what can be done for you depends upon 1) who you are, and 2) what question(s) you need answered.
who are YOU?
Immediate clients may be police investigators, legal counsel, corporations, or, in select cases, private individuals. Some examiners deal with all of these clients while others have a specific interest area. For example, examiners that work in publicly-funded laboratories often have a relatively restricted mandate of service (i.e., to their own agency or to a particular branch of government bodies/agencies). Examiners working privately will take cases from any most clients.
It is critical to note that no matter who the immediate client might be, the ultimate client is always the court. In fact, the reason forensic document examiners exist is to help the trier-of-fact understand the meaning of evidence taking the form of a questioned document. The examiner’s expertise is needed to inform the trier about what the evidence means in terms of the matter at hand.
This means that my duty is to the court before any other party, including the one paying the bill—even when the matter has not yet, and may never, make it to a trial or hearing. It is often said that you don’t buy an examiner’s opinion; you pay for their time and must live with the results, whatever they may be.
what question(s) do you need answered?
Investigators benefit from FDE advice when it helps them sort out what is likely to have happened in a given situation. Similarly, lawyers who must argue a case before the trier need to understand what the evidence means in terms of their own arguments and those of opposing counsel. The expert examiner can provide guidance, both verbal and written, in the form of an expert opinion.
Examiners will address questions of interest relating to a variety of disputed documents, such as: wills, deeds, medical records, income tax records, time sheets, contracts, loan agreements, election lists, cheques, anonymous letters, and so on.1 Those questions may relate to source attribution, manner of production, occurrences to documents, or other issues.
Examiners will also conduct reviews of casework done by other examiners. Such reviews may take the form of a formal re-evaluation of the evidence or focus on methods used and their application in the case at hand.
In addition, lawyers can benefit from an examiner’s knowledge of specialized literature in the field. Examiners may assist lawyers in preparing meaningful direct examination questions for their own experts or for cross-examination of an opposing expert.
When in doubt, contact me to find out what can be done for you. However, when doing so be careful to avoid providing unnecessary, or potentially biasing, information.
Do you only accept cases from a lawyer?
In general, yes, I only accept a case submissions from a lawyer, solicitor, or barrister. I will explain why that is done in a minute, but there are a few exceptions to this rule.
I may accept cases from someone other than the above (e.g., usually a party directly or personally involved in the matter) so long as the following conditions apply:
- It is NOT a matter before the courts,
- It is NOT a matter intended to go before the courts, and
- It is NOT a matter with any legal or judicial implications.
Now, this might seem to rule out a lot of things and it does. The kind of submission I will accept directly from a private citizen (i.e., non-lawyer/non-barrister) are those aimed at genealogical research, personal interest or education, and similar things. If you aren’t sure about this, please ask and I will clarify.
For most matters a submission must be arranged and executed through a lawyer, solicitor, or barrister. I will, however, consider a contract if struck with some businesses or a government department/agency of well-established reputation.
It is important that the contract for services be formed between a lawyer or law firm (as a representative) and myself because it helps to ensure:
- a professional relationship in all matters,
- an arms-length arrangement relative to any party with a personal interest in the outcome, and
- there is minimal and controlled interaction to avoid introducing biasing information into the process. Please note that, as a potential expert witness, I must do everything possible to minimize any bias that may affect the outcome in casework.
This might seem unnecessary and even problematic, but it really does work to the benefit of all parties. If you have any questions, please let me know.
From whom do you accept cases? Who are your clients?
Cases are accepted from public entities (e.g., police, investigative bodies, government, etc.) as well as from private individuals. However, clients who are private individuals must be represented by a lawyer, with very few exceptions.
For all matters that are, or may be, related to some judicial proceedings of a criminal or civil nature, I will accept submissions only through a lawyer or solicitor representing a party. As a rule, I will not deal directly with parties or individuals personally involved in such proceedings. If you do not presently have a lawyer, I suggest you retain the services of one prior to obtaining the services of any forensic document examiner.
This approach is taken to ensure an arms-length relationship with the involved parties. It is also important to limit exposure to unnecessary, and potentially biasing, information about the situation at play. To ensure that such information is not provided all potential clients and their representatives must review our submission guidelines before initiating contact with this office.
For non-legal matters, such as genealogical research or similar issues, my services may be engaged directly by anyone or any institution, public or private.
In addition to the above, all service requests are reviewed before acceptance for potential ‘conflict’. A ‘conflict check’ must be successfully completed prior to any formal engagement of services.
What is a ‘conflict check’?
A ‘conflict check’ is a term used for a preliminary process of checking to see if there is any conflict of interest present prior to any work agreement being reached with a client. For legal reasons, it is necessary to ensure there is no conflict of interest involved when work is commissioned. This refers to both real/substantive and perceived conflicts.
A commission for work cannot and will not be accepted if there is a real or perceived conflict in any of the following conditions:
- Conflict (real, perceived, or potential) with an existing (different) client who has already retained my services (i.e., one from whom I have a signed agreement and paid retainer fee), and
- Conflict (real, perceived, or potential) with my work as an employee of the Government of Canada; specifically, the Canada Border Services Agency, but not limited to that agency (i.e., more generally, the interests of the Government of Canada).
In order to conduct a conflict check the client must provide me with the following information:
- Your complete contact information,
- The file or case caption, in full,
- Names of all parties involved, including attorneys and law firms
Once the conflict check has cleared, I will provide my present fee schedule, a complete current CV and an Agreement for Expert Services, if one has been requested.
Please note that receipt of that information and form only indicates there is no conflict at the time of contact. It does not constitute ‘retained’ status. Only after receipt of the signed Agreement and nonrefundable retainer am I considered officially retained, and therefore unavailable to the other side should I be contacted by them.
I (Mr. Ostrum) may not be designated or in any way indicated as a retained expert unless payment of the nonrefundable retainer and a signed Agreement for Expert Services (available upon request) has been received.
Note: “Future” conflicts may develop which preclude the continuation of services. If such an event occurs, the existing contract will be null and void. Fees will be charged for services rendered to date, but any excess payment will be returned should that occur.
Why does your service cost so much?
An internet search will produce a long list of people and agencies offering FDE services, often at remarkably low cost; much lower than my cost or that of any other reputable and qualified examiner. You should not be surprised by that — after all, there are no controls over who can offer their services to the public as I’ve discussed in another post you can find here.
Cutting corners is rarely a good approach when investing hard-earned money. Forensic document examination is one service where the client definitely should expect to get what they pay for. As the saying goes, “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, just wait until you hire an amateur!”
As a parallel, would you trust your case to a sketchy lawyer? Or go with the lowest bid when quality is what matters most? Perhaps so, in which case I can only say please be careful because you may be in for a rude surprise when the time comes to present such evidence in a court setting.
It is critical that you, like the courts, should always vet the credentials and practices of anyone offering this type of service. This is particularly true for anyone offering those services at what appears to be a ‘cut rate’.
A competent professional document examiner will have years of education, training, and experience. They will maintain their skills and currency through ongoing professional development. They will apply appropriate methods and techniques and use only well-maintained equipment. They will document their work and ensure that appropriate quality assurance measures are followed. All these factors come at a cost; the cost of doing business the right way.
To put things bluntly, true forensic expertise does not come cheap. It is definitely not a service where doing things ‘on the cheap’ makes sense.
So, why does my service cost so much? Quite simply, it is because I try to do things the right way and take every precaution to ensure that will be the case. If you opt to go with a cheaper option, I wish you well. However… I will also reiterate the Roman warning:
“Caveat Emptor”
—Let the buyer beware—
Can a preliminary examination be done based on faxed or emailed images?
From a technical point-of-view it is possible to use reproductions, such as faxed or emailed images, to conduct a preliminary examination of the material. In fact, it is possible to do a ‘complete’ examination and evaluation with such materials, but it places significant limitation on the result. It is definitely not recommended. Faxing, or more often emailing, images of documents may expedite the process slightly, but it is very important to understand that doing so has a significant downside.
Original items are always recommended for this type of work. The time spent in shipping the originals for examination is well worth it to ensure the best possible work gets done.
The Bottom Line: Any reproduction, including a fax, photocopy or PDF, is a somewhat limited representation of the original item. The degree of that limitation will vary from one instance/item to the next and may depend on what aspect of the document is in question. However, the results of any (preliminary) evaluation done using reproductions is unlikely to reflect the outcome of work performed on original items. In the event that a (preliminary) assessment is done, the resulting opinion must be expressed in a manner that reflects those limitations or qualifications.
Whether or not that will suffice for the intended purpose is something the client must decide.
Can you recover erased writings?
“Erased writing” (or, an ‘erasure’) refers to a written entry/ies which has been removed in an attempt to get rid of the original information, either to simply delete it or replace it with something else.
An erasure may be achieved manually/mechanically using an eraser, some type of scraping tool, or using an adhesive lifting process (for select types of material). Alternatively, erasures may be achieved chemically through the application of a ‘bleaching’ solution, or some type of lifting agent.
Often the idea behind an erasure is to remove the information, ideally, leaving no significant indication any information was ever present, or that an erasure has occurred. This can be contrasted to an obliteration where the information is covered or masked, often in a relatively obvious manner.
With most erasures there will be physical or chemical signs that one has been done, albeit sometimes very subtle and difficult to see. At the same time, detecting this type of event is one thing. Recovering or deciphering the original information is another, often much more challenging, prospect.
Are there any licensing requirements for a Forensic Document Examiner?
No, there are no licensing requirements for Forensic Document Examiners in the majority of jurisdictions in the United States or Canada, or in most other parts of the world. Some sort of licensing would have tremendous benefit by providing a degree of regulatory oversight. However, like other forensic disciplines, there is nothing at present for Forensic Document Examination work.
Therefore, please do not assume that anyone offering their services is truly qualified and competent. Check credentials carefully. To that end, look closely at any professional certification held by the examiner. Certification speaks to the competencies and capabilities of the examiner. In addition, review the examiner’s curriculum vitae (resume) carefully and always ask questions about anything in it.
Related blog post: Professional Certification
Can you work with photocopied or faxed documents?
Yes, a forensic document examiner can work with a photocopied document, facsimile output, or other types of reproduction such as photographs.1 There are a couple of different situations where this might be a consideration.
First, some aspect of the reproduction itself may be in question. For example, the issue at hand may pertain to the manner of production, origin or source of a copy:
- is the document a copy of a particular original document?
- was the document (i.e., copy) produced on a particular machine?
- was the document (i.e., copy) produced on or about a specific purported date?
- what type of device was used to produce the document (i.e., reproduction)?
- has the document (i.e., copy) been altered, relative to the source document?
- is this document an original or a reproduction? (yes, this can be an issue)
In these types of situations the document itself is the focus of the examination or comparison. Hence, the fact it is a reproduction should not limit the examination or be a concern.
Second, the issue may involve a comparison between questioned and known/exemplar samples to assess potential source. In this situation, original documents are always better, if they are available.
There will be times when a reproduction is the only copy available. In those instances a meaningful examination may still be possible; however, the reproduced nature of the item may place some limitation on the examination. The critical issue is the quality of reproduction and poor quality copies can be a significant limiting factor. Poor quality reproductions simply do not display all of the features the examiner must assess. That applies whether the issue relates to handwriting (e.g., questions about authorship) or machine printing (e.g., questions about source).
In particular, and as noted above, if the issue relates to authorship of handwriting or a signature, then it is always best to have the original document, rather than any reproduction.2
Another factor that arises with a reproduction is the possibility that some element appearing in the document (e.g., writing or a signature) may have been ‘inserted’ into a document via a “cut-and-paste” process, either through electronic/digital or manual means. Such activities can be difficult to detect or assess when working with a copy.
In summary, while a reproduction may place limits on certain types of examination it does not preclude an evaluation and assessment in every situation. Always discuss the matter with the examiner.