Reports
As a result of the examination and comparison of the disputed document, the client receives a written report. The report details each of the documents examined and the expert’s opinion. We apply the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials Standards) standard terminology (used by most document examiners) to express our conclusion as follows:
Degrees of Certainty:
| Identification* | Definite identifcation beyond any doubt. Highest degree of confidence in one's opinion that the handwriting belongs to the identified party. |
| A high degree of certainty | Critical evidence confirms the "questioned" and "known" documents were written by the same person. |
| A reasonable degree of certainty | Significant indicators suggest the handwriting samples compared were written by the same person; more data is needed to support a higher degree of certainty. |
| Inconclusive | Due to insufficient evidence, it is not possible to reach a conclusion. |
The same degrees of certainty can be applied to elimination.
* Identification
This opinion can be reached only in ideal situations: when you have all the originals, perfect pre-and post- incident samples, parallel wording in all documents and an eyewitness. In most cases, one of these elements is missing, so this opinion is rarely given. For all practical purposes, "a high degree of certainty" is the most desirable opinion, in the absence of "beyond any doubt".
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