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Document Examiner - Handwriting Expert
Forensic Document Examiner
Handwriting Expert - Forgery Detection
Court Qualified Expert Witness
Services Provided Nationally
Michael L. Robertson
Special Agent U.S. Secret Service (Retired)
Over 39 Years of Experience
Document Examiner - Handwriting Expert
Court Qualified Expert Witness in 40 Court Systems - Handwriting Expert
Upon retiring from the U.S. Secret Service in 1988, Michael established his private firm, Robertson Investigations. Michael has qualified as an expert in over 40 courts around the country.
He has testified and has been deposed in over 250 cases. Numerous law firms, eight of the Fortune 50 Corporations, federal agencies and hundreds of private citizens, have retained Michael. He provides his forgery and document examination services nationwide.
Combining work in the private sector along with time served in the U.S. Secret Service, Michael has over 39 years of experience in the field of Forensic Questioned Document Examination and Handwriting Analysis.
Initial consultations are free of charge and confidential. Please call 1-800-499-1287
Guidelines for properly obtaining handwriting exemplars can be found on the handwriting exemplars page. Also, please visit our FAQ page for frequenly asked questions regarding forensic document examination.
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Forensic Document Examination: Services
As a Forensic Document Examiner, Michael L. Robertson, a forgery detection and handwriting expert, specializes in the detection, identification and examination of a forgery, forged or altered writings and documents suspected of fraud including: forged checks, anonymous letters, threat letters, forged wills, deeds, contracts, and the forgery of hand printing.
Handwriting identification – Michael also provides handwriting examination and handwriting analysis regarding forged signatures and signature comparison. He also detects and examines for document alterations, interlineations, obliterations, substitutions, erasures, post dating, scanner fraud, cut and paste, ink comparisons, on disputed contracts, disputed deeds, contested wills, disputed handwriting, disputed signatures, and various documents which are a suspected forgery.
In order to determine whether or not a forgery or alteration is present and the source or it, Michael also conducts examinations to determine the identification and characteristics of paper, inks and identify similarities or differences between staple holes in paper and a variety of other tests.
Background and Training in Forensic Document Examination
After graduating from The Ohio State University with a degree in Sociology/Criminology, Michael L. Robertson served for 17 years as a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service. One of his duties was to serve as a field examiner in forgery cases and as an examiner of written threats against the President of the United States. He screened suspect writings for submission to the Questioned Document Laboratory in Washington, DC. Invariably the submissions were substantiated in the lab.
Michael received his questioned document examination and forgery detection training from the U.S. Secret Service Training Academy. This academy is utilized by numerous state and local law enforcement agencies for the purpose of training their forensic document examiners and forgery experts. Michael received additional training from members of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation Forgery Division, from the examiner at the Cleveland (Ohio) Police Department as well as informal training with other recognized document examiners.
Michael has been qualified as an expert in over 40 different court systems, including federal court, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and numerous Common Pleas, Probate and Municipal Courts, which include the states of Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, Ohio and Tennessee.
He has been appointed to serve as an expert by various Common Please judges in indigent capital cases.
Michael maintains a case log to meet the requirements for testifying in federal cases and he has established a methodology protocol, following accepted practices to satisfy Daubert requirements. He maintains a forensic document examination laboratory and facility where he produces his court exhibits.
Contact Michael to discuss your case by calling Toll Free 1-800-499-1287 or visit or Contact Us page. Initial consultations are free of charge and confidential. Please visit our FAQs page for frequently asked questions regarding forensic document examination.
Getting Your Money's Worth from a Forensic Document Examiner
It’s a good guess you are searching the Internet for a questioned document examiner. You will be spending at least several hundred dollars to obtain an expert’s opinion about a questioned document. Make sure the opinion is worth the paper it is written on. Make sure you check out the credentials of each and every expert you are vetting.
Beware of important sounding document examiner associations because many will “certify” just about anyone for a price. What is the source of the training? Has the examiner testified as an expert in your type of case? Will the forensic document examiner’s opinion carry any weight with your opponents in the case?
This field has many well qualified document examiners. But like any field that advertises experts, there are even more unqualified people. If you hire someone who lacks bona fide credentials, you are wasting your money and taking a chance on losing your case.
If you have any doubts, ask the expert questions about his/her questioned document examination background, training, court room experience etc. Don’t be shy about asking for reputable references.
As you will see throughout my credientials, I have over 39 years of successful forensic document examination experience, and am a court qualified expert witness. Give me a call today to dicuss your document examination need. It’s your money – spend it wisely.
Forensic Document Examination: Original Documents versus Copied Documents
When copies of suspected fraudulent documents and copies of forged writing are all that are available for the document examination, some elements can still be examined. A few examples are margins, spacing, height ratios between letters, letter and letter combination forms, writing / printing style, writing speed and slant.
Original documents are necessary to compare inks, verify that entries are not "pasted" to the document, identify interlineations, i.e., and added lines of entries between two existing lines of entries, critical examination of entries that cannot be completed with copies.
Preliminary examinations are frequently conducted using only copies, which are eventually followed up with an examination of the original documents. This usually occurs in plaintiff cases. In the vast majority of cases it is eventually necessary to examine the original documents.
Forgery
The definition of forgery as defined by Black's Law Dictionary is the false making or material altering of a document with intent to defraud. A signature of a person made without the person's consent and without the person otherwise authorizing it. A person is guilty of a forgery if, with purpose to defraud or injure anyone, or with knowledge that he is facilitating a fraud or injury to be perpetrated by anyone, the actor: (a) alters any writing of another without his authority; or (b) makes, completes, executes, authenticates, issues or transfers any writing so that it purports to be the act of another who did not authorize that act, or to have been executed at a time or place or in a numbered sequence other than was in fact the case, or to be a copy of an original when no such original existed." The federal government and all states have forgery statutes on the books, which include, at least, the essence of this definition.
Forgeries may apply to many types of questioned documents - forged documents and forged signatures, but the most common types in civil litigation are a forged will, forged check and forged contract. Document analysis regarding check forgery and contract forgery are frequently requested of our document examiner, Mike Robertson. Forgeries of wills and trusts often involve family members, associates of the victim or their family, or fiduciary agents. It is uncommon for a stranger to be involved in this type of forgery because they would lack access to documents and not be privy to the inner workings of the family or its finances. Feuding family members sometimes participate in the altering or forging documents of an elderly family member to gain an unfair, and fraudulent, advantage over the opposing side of the family.
Often, an individual who is attempting to disguise their handwriting may write larger or smaller than they usually would. Other techniques attempted may include writing with their opposite hand, writing slower or faster than normal, slanting of words, or applying a lighter or heavier pressure with the writing utensil.
Forgery is usually identified as a criminal act, but it is often detected during civil litigation. Many individuals found responsible for forging documents in a civil suit are never prosecuted for the criminal aspect the forgery. A Forensic Document Examiner is often retained during civil litigation for the purpose of analyzing and comparing disputed signatures, suspicious document entries and other forms of suspected forgery or tampering of documents.
The terms signature analysis and signature comparison are frequently used interchangeably in regards to document examination of forged signatures. Some people spell the word handwriting as two words; hand writing. Handwriting examination, handwriting comparison and handwriting (or "hand writing") analysis basically mean the same thing just as a handwriting analyst is synonymous with handwriting examiner and handwriting expert.
A handwriting examiner limits their discipline to handwriting examination and handwriting analysis. A questioned document examiner covers a much broader field of expertise regarding the examination of questioned documents.
Forensic handwriting identification, or hand writing identification is a forensic scientific process, which is conducted by a handwriting expert or a questioned document examiner. Forgeries are the mainstay of questioned document examiners who are often referred to as handwriting experts, or forensic document examiners.
View one of our document examination reports.
More About Forensic Document Examination
The purpose of a Forensic Document Examiner, also referred to as a Questioned Document Examiner, Document Analyst and Handwriting Analyst or Handwriting Expert is to answer questions and form an expert opinion regarding a document, writing or suspected forgery by using a variety of scientific methods. The document analysis process involves a comparison between the questioned document, or its components, to a set of known standards and/or exemplars.
Document examination is also conducted to determine the authenticity of a document or to authenticate a person’s writing. From this the document examiner may form an expert opinion which may be presented by the examiner when they appear as an expert witness in court.
A handwriting examiner limits their discipline to handwriting examination and handwriting analysis. A questioned document examiner covers a much broader field of expertise regarding the examination of questioned documents.
The questioned document examination process is commonly referred to as forensic document examination, fraudulent document examination, document analysis, handwriting examination, handwriting identification, handwriting analysis or forensic handwriting analysis. In addition to questionable handwriting and hand printing, forged or altered documents may be the subject of alterations, erasures, obliterations, interlineations, post dating, substitutions, scanner fraud and cut and paste.
Our Forensic Document Examiner and Handwriting Expert Services are Frequently Utilized in the Following Locations and Surrounding Areas:
Akron, Alliance, Ashland, Ashtabula, Aurora, Austintown, Barberton, Beachwood, Bedford, Boardman, Bowling Green, Brecksville, Brunswick, Campbell, Canal Fulton, Canfield, Canton, Carrollton, Cincinnati , Cleveland, Columbus, Copley, Cuyahoga County, Cuyahoga Falls, Dayton, Delaware, Delaware County, Dover, Dublin, East Liverpool, Euclid, Fairfield County, Fairlawn, Franklin County, Fremont, Gahanna, Grove City, Hamilton, Hamilton County, Hartville, Hilliard, Hubbard, Kent, Kettering, Lakewood, Lebanon, Lisbon, Lorain, Lucas County, Mahoning County, Mansfield, Marietta, Marion, Marysville, Mason, Massillon, Maumee, Medina, Mentor, Middletown, Millersburg, Minerva, New Philadelphia, Niles, North Canton, Northwood, Oregon, Orrville, Painesville, Parma, Pataskala, Pepper Pike, Perrysburg, Pickerington, Ravenna, Reynoldsburg, Rittman, Rocky River, Rossford, Salem, Sandusky, Shaker Heights, Springfield, Stark County, Stow, Streetsboro, Strongsville, Summit County, Sylvania, Toledo, Trumbull County, Twinsburg, Upper Arlington, Wadsworth, Warren, Wayne County, Westerville, Westlake, Willoughby, Willowick, Winchester, Wooster, Youngstown, Kentucky (KY)- Bowling Green, Covington, Frankfort, Lexington, Louisville, Paducah, Pittsburgh (PA)- Alleghney County, Aliquippa, Butler, Erie, Greensburg, Latrobe, McKeesport, Monroeville, Mount Lebanon, New Castle, Pittsburgh, Sharon, Stroudsburg, Washington, Zelienople, West Virginia (WV): Beckley, Charleston, Elkins, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis, Little Rock and New York City
Also Available in All 50 States: Alabama (AL) Alaska (AK) Arizona (AZ) Arkansas (AR) California (CA) Colorado (CO) Connecticut (CT) Delaware (DE) Florida (FL) Georgia (GA) Hawaii (HI) Idaho (ID) Illinois (IL) Indiana (IN) Iowa (IA) Kansas (KS) Kentucky (KY) Louisiana (LA) Maine (ME) Maryland (MD) Massachusetts (MA) Michigan (MI) Minnesota (MN) Mississippi (MS) Missouri (MO) Montana (MT) Nebraska (NE) Nevada (NV) New Hampshire (NH) New Jersey (NJ) New Mexico (NM) New York (NY) North Carolina (NC) North Dakota (ND) Ohio (OH) Oklahoma (OK) Oregon (OR) Pennsylvania (PA) Rhode Island (RI) South Carolina (SC) South Dakota (SD) Tennessee (TN) Texas (TX) Utah (UT) Vermont (VT) Virginia (VA) Washington (WA) Washington D.C. West Virginia (WV) Wisconsin (WI) Wyoming (WY)
