M. Patricia Fisher
— Fisher Forensic Document Laboratory, Inc.
Areas of Expertise: Handwriting
Statement of Qualifications
Patricia Fisher, M.J.[1]
BFDE[2] — Board Certified Forensic Document Examiner
Overview
Over 30 years full time work as a forensic document examiner on a broad range of identification problems involving typewriters, computer printouts, e-mail printouts, watermarks, papers, writing instruments and intersections of lines including:
Handwriting/signature identification
Fabricated documents
Altered medical and business records
Specializes in questioned documents in probate and financial elder abuse matters, altered and fabricated documents, and complex cases involving multiple document issues.
Qualified to testify in Federal and/or State Courts in California, New York, and Nevada in over 275 court proceedings since 1979. Additional testimony provided in arbitrations, hearings, and depositions.
Laboratory
State of the art laboratory for the non-destructive examination of questioned documents. Equipment includes the ESDA LITE for indented writing testing, the Video Spectral Comparator 80i for testing requiring a range of light and infrared and ultraviolet sources for paper and ink examinations, and an Olympus stereo-zoom trinocular microscope with attached high resolution camera.
Professional education and publications
Actively participates on an annual basis in training workshops and continuing education related to the field of forensic document examination field. Extensive background in teaching and writing for presentation of document issues to the layperson and in writing laboratory reports. A frequent presenter at professional meetings. Twenty publications in the field.
Certification and Professional Associations
Diplomate of and certified by the Board of Forensic Document Examiners (BFDE), the Association of Forensic Document Examiners (AFDE), and the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists (ACFS). Editor of the Journal of Forensic Document Examination 2005-2018. Currently on the Editorial Board. Member of the International Graphonomics Society. California State Bar approved MCLE Single Provider for presentations on document examination.
[1] Masters in Journalism, University of California, Berkeley
[2] The BFDE's certification program has been accredited by the Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board.