V. Daniel Hunt                    Technology Research Corp.

Lawrence M. Solan, PhD, JD        Brooklyn Law School

Seth Thomas Sombar, CPA         Sombar and Company

Forrest Lamb, MS, CFM         Metroscapes LLC

Randy Grubb                                 Cyber Security Research Institute

Sandi Naumann, PhD                    DTCC

Carole E. Chaski, PhD               Executive Director

2009-2012

Sgt. Larry Barksdale, Lincoln NE Police Department and University of Nebraska, Law Enforcement & Investigations Track

Bruce Breon, JD, PhD (Linguistics), Venable LLP, Information Technology Department, Researcher-Practitioner Track

Carole E. Chaski, PhD (Linguistics), ALIAS Technology LLC, Researcher-Practitioner Track

Susan Adams, PhD, (Human Development), Adams and Associates, Researcher-PractitionerTrack

To Be Announced Legal Community Track

To Be Announced, Law Enforcement/Investigations Track

To Be Announced, Track Optional

A non-profit scientific research organization devoted to developing and testing forensic linguistic methods

The Institute for Linguistic Evidence was founded in 1998 by Dr. Carole E. Chaski as a non-profit, scientific research organization and soon thereafter granted 501(c) 3 status by the United States Internal Revenue Service. The Institute, also called ILE, conducts pioneering research and development for methods of handling language as evidence and providing validated, tested and proven methods for answering forensically significant questions.

Dr. Chaski has conducted validation testing for language-based methods of handling linguistic evidence since 1994. She continued this work, and general approach to forensic linguistics, at the National Institute of Justice, where Dr. Chaski held the first Visiting Research Fellowship in the Office of Science and Technology, Investigative and Forensic Sciences Division from 1995 - 1998. At the urging of her NIJ program manager, Dr. Chaski founded ILE to continue the work of validation testing for linguistic evidence.

ILE has been funded by the United States Department of Justice National Institute of Justice, research projects for major corporations, and private philanthropy.

ILE has also begun, in 2009, to provide funding for forensic linguistic research in the form of mini-grants. Grant application procedures and the 2009 grantees can be found on our Research page.

ILE is the research and development wing of ALIAS Technology LLC. Whenever ILE's development and validation testing of linguistic methods warrant the use of such methods in an investigative or forensic capacity, the research tools are made available to law enforcement, security consultants, government agencies, corporations, attorneys and the public. Based on litigation-independent ILE research, our forensic consulting services and web-accessed forensic software are provided through ALIAS Technology LLC.

If you need help solving a forensic linguistic problem for an investigation or case, please click this link.

A professional organization devoted to the highest standards of linguistic evidence

TALE is an association of professionals who handle forensic linguistic evidence as law enforcement, private investigators, security consultants, data aggregators, legal assistants, attorneys, judges, law professors specializing in evidence, and researcher-practitioners. As professionals with the highest ethical standards, our members seek the most reliable methods of handling linguistic evidence in the forensic setting.

We have come together to create a forum in which we can

discuss the current state of forensic linguistics,

encourage each other to develop and test forensic linguistic methods independent of any litigation,

encourage each other to provide, use and admit the most reliable forensic linguistic methods in both investigation and adjudication,

disseminate validation test results as quickly as possible.

TALE has three tracks: Law Enforcement/Investigations, Researcher-Practitioner, and Legal Community.

Membership has three levels: Founding Members. Members and Fellows. Founding Members and Members may both seek promotion to become Fellows.

Founding Members have already contributed to the emergence of forensic linguistics in ways that establish the highest standards for handling linguistic evidence.

Qualifications for membership include demonstrated handling of linguistic evidence in responsible ways for the particular track to which the applicant is applying, demonstrated committment to the goal of scientific reliability in forensic linguistics, and demonstrated leadership within the applicant's primary field. The application requires three character references and the curriculum vitae or résumé.

Qualifications for promotion to fellow include at least one year of membership in TALE, contributions to the Tellin' TALE blog, other peer-reviewed academic or professional publication(s) (excluding editorials, letters to the editor, etc.), and demonstrated innovations in handling linguistic evidence through investigative techniques, development of analytical methods, validation testing, or legal strategies.

TALE is managed by a seven-person Executive Committee which serves a three-year term. The Executive Committee includes representatives from each track. Responsibilities of the Executive Committee include organizing and monitoring blog contributions, supporting the production of the annual review with time, writing, and literature or legal searches, organizing webinars, organizing TALE Conferences in conjunction with major conferences, reviewing membership and promotion applications and making subsequent decisions.

There are no annual dues for membership, but tax-deductible contributions to ILE help defray the cost of TALE activities, support ILE research, and provide funding for ILE Mini-Grants.

We invite you to join TALE and support the development of forensic linguistics into a truly mature forensic science. Click here to download the application for Membership. The application for Promotion to Fellow will soon be available.