Methodology

The Tearline Method

The Tearline Method applies that discipline to commercial intelligence. Source protection is not a promise appended to a report – it is the architecture of the work. Everything client-facing sits below the tearline: evidence-tagged, independently supportable, and defensible under scrutiny, without exposing the people who made it possible.

Operating principles

Three principles govern every engagement.

Nothing is proven until it is stood up. Every claim – documentary, human or published – is treated as unverified until it can be independently corroborated. Findings are graded, not asserted.
Contradictions are preserved, not reconciled. Where sources disagree, the disagreement itself is reported. Smoothing conflicting accounts into a single narrative destroys the most decision-relevant information a client can receive.
Everything is defensible. Reports are built to withstand hostile examination – by opposing counsel, by regulators, by the press. Every finding traces to a graded source; every inference is labelled as such.

Six stages, two gates

  1. 1

    Tasking Gate one

    What is asked, what decision it serves, and whether the work should be taken at all. Conflicts checked, questions fixed, scope agreed.

  2. 2

    Collection

    The full documentary and public record: registries, filings, litigation, sanctions and media across English, Arabic and Amharic – read editorially, not keyword-matched.

  3. 3

    Enquiry

    Discreet human-source work where commissioned, planned approach by approach under absolute source-protection protocols.

  4. 4

    Corroboration

    Every claim independently stood up or held as unproven. Contradictions preserved, not reconciled.

  5. 5

    Grading

    Structured grading of every source and every item of information, separating reliability from plausibility. Findings are graded, not asserted.

  6. 6

    Tearline Gate two

    The report is cut: everything client-facing sits below the line – evidence-tagged, defensible, source-protected. Nothing leaves until it meets the standard.

The method underpins every service the practice offers – and it is the reason findings developed for a boardroom can survive contact with a courtroom.

Services