A forgery lawyer usually deals with cases involving forged signatures on a variety of documents. This type of lawyer also deals with cases in which documents are created with the intent of defrauding or deceiving another person, company, or organization. Furthermore, this type of attorney may handle cases in which his client did not create or sign the forged documents, but was discovered in possession of them. When a person is accused of forgery, his lawyer’s job is to defend him in court and keep him from facing harsh penalties like jail time and fines. If this isn’t possible, a forgery lawyer may instead try to get his client the lightest penalties possible.
Surprisingly, a forgery lawyer can handle a wide range of cases. Many people are most familiar with cases where someone forges someone else’s signature. Signing contracts, credit card slips, and even checks can cause this. Another type of forgery is when someone creates documents with the intent of deceiving someone else, even if the signatures on the documents are genuine. A forgery lawyer may also handle cases involving the forgery of paper money, as well as cases involving the forgery of designer goods and artwork.
Forgery is a felony in many jurisdictions. A felony is a serious crime for which a person is frequently sentenced to prison and receives a permanent criminal record. A forgery attorney’s primary goal may be to persuade a judge or jury that his client is innocent. He might try to accomplish this by demonstrating that his client was not involved in the forgery at all. However, in some cases, this type of lawyer may try to prove that his client saw, handled, or used the forged item without realizing he was doing so.
A forgery lawyer may also try to persuade the court that his client thought he had the legal right to sign another person’s name. This belief may be enough to clear the defendant of a forgery charge in many jurisdictions. For example, if party A authorizes party B to sign documents on his behalf and then revokes that authorization, party B may not be held liable for forgery if party A never informs him of the revoked authorization.
In some cases, a forgery lawyer will use intoxication as a defense for his client. For example, in some jurisdictions, a client’s participation in a forgery while inebriated may be sufficient defense. This may not mean the party is completely innocent, depending on the jurisdiction, but the defense may be used to show that he was unaware he was committing a crime at the time or was out of control.