SMARTDRAW IN LAW ENFORCEMENT:

Alliance Forensic Services

Manny Gonzales is a Certified Private Investigator, a Certified Forensic Examiner and a Fraud Claim Law Specialist. However he has spent the better part of the last 28 years of his professional life as a Forensic Document Examiner, which is another term for handwriting expert.

Manny conducts forensic examinations of documents to determine their authenticity, source, origin and authorship. He also testifies as an expert witness when necessary, and has taken the stand over 150 times in his career.

"What really got me to buy SmartDraw was the fact that it was so easy to use, and very versatile," said Gonzalez. "You can use it for forms, crime scenes, courtroom exhibits, medical illustrations - the list goes on and on. I chose SmartDraw's Legal Edition because of the libraries and symbols unique to my particular field. It also has a wider array of usage than Crime-Zone or CADzone, which is what I had been using prior to SmartDraw."

A couple of times a year, Manny gets a phone call from friends who need a Spanish-speaking investigator. He will interview witnesses, family members and anyone else remotely connected to a given case. Because a picture tells a thousand WORD^®s, Manny has discovered that devising a sketch of a crime scene, accident reconstruction or timeline will more often than not bridge the language gap in a way nothing else can.

Because of the professionalism of the documents he creates, Manny's friends naturally assume he has had formal training in graphic design. However, Manny insists that's not the case.

"I have no graphic design background whatsoever, but thanks to SmartDraw, that doesn't matter. Everything is right there for me—SmartTemplates™ for almost every picture, symbol or diagram you can imagine, and SmartHelp™ to walk me through whatever it is I need to draw. From that point, all I have to do is make minor modifications."

Manny has also discovered the "forms" function in SmartDraw has practical applications as well. "Thanks to SmartDraw's 'Forms' templates, I'm directly invoicing my clients - no third-party software needed."

"Overall I am very impressed with SmartDraw's Legal Edition. It produces professional quality documents while remaining incredibly easy to use. The money spent on it has been well worth the invest-ment."