Business partners separate. The evidence should be clear.
Business Partner Separation Core Analysis
A business partnership is ending and you need to understand what happened to shared information. GDF Core Analysis is a flat-rate forensic service that preserves the agreed business records and explains relevant computer, email, cloud and communication activity.
Gather records before an engagement
Related preparation packages
Choose a guide to identify records, assign owners and prepare questions for your auditor, consultant, counsel or export-control specialist.
These are preparation aids. They do not replace an audit, assessment, legal opinion or specialist decision, and they do not authorize testing.
Read the overviews without a form. Downloads require your name and email; we email a seven-day access link. Organization and phone are optional.
Departed-employee data sources
Identify devices, mail, cloud storage, archives, backups and logs to discuss with counsel and client IT.
File: ZIP: source guide, checklists and sample questions.
Commercial and contract dispute data sources
Locate contracts, messages, collaboration records and business-system data, with questions for counsel and system owners.
File: ZIP: source guide, checklists and sample questions.
Browse all preparation packages by subject.
Check each overview for source dates, scope limits and unresolved questions before using a download.
Confirm authority before examining shared records
Check conflicts, ownership and documented collection authority for each business system. If access is disputed, pause that source pending an agreed or court-directed protocol. Consider a neutral examination with defined communications and report distribution instead of treating one partner as the authority for every shared account.
Before a flat-rate first look, agree which company systems and partnership records may be examined, who can authorize access and who receives the findings. Define the period, volume limits and initial report. Disputed accounts, a neutral protocol, further financial reconstruction or testimony can require additional agreed work.
The first report identifies available shared-account and transaction records, the correlations they support and access gaps. Technical activity alone does not establish ownership, an individual partner’s intent or a breached duty. Counsel applies the partnership documents and legal requirements to the evidence.
Primary references: Microsoft audit activity definitions (opens in a new tab) · Google Drive log events (opens in a new tab).
Clarify activity in shared business records
When partners separate, questions often involve shared accounts, customer files, changes to access and disputed business records. Core Analysis builds a timeline from the agreed sources so counsel can examine who did what and when, including activity relevant to trade secrets or fiduciary-duty claims.
The engagement
Document activity in the shared business records
When partners separate, questions can arise about customer information, business plans, financial documents, intellectual property and control of shared accounts. A forensic examination helps establish what the available records show about the activity in question.
GDF works with authorized business representatives and counsel to identify the systems, accounts and records to examine. We preserve the agreed email, documents and computer system, then build a timeline around the business events and separation dates that matter.
The analysis can connect file activity with email, chat histories, cloud storage and available AI-use records. That combined view helps explain whether material was copied, shared, sent, altered or deleted, and the communications surrounding those events.
Core Analysis gives non-technical business owners and counsel a clear, concise report using the same forensically sound process GDF applies to its casework. It is offered at a flat rate for an agreed scope, with the sources, relevant period and questions defined before the examination.
Scope
Identify the shared business records
Work with authorized representatives to identify relevant computers, business email, shared storage and documents. Define the examination around the disputed activity and separation timeline.
Preserve the evidence
Forensically preserve the agreed sources and document their handling. Retain the records needed to explain the examination and its findings.
Analyze documents and transfers
Examine relevant file activity, copies, transfers and changes. Connect the technical records to the proprietary information or business documents the parties are concerned about.
Connect email, chat, cloud and AI records
Review authorized communications and available activity from OneDrive, Google Workspace, Box, Dropbox and relevant AI tools. Correlate these sources to clarify the sequence of events.
Build a business-event timeline
Organize the findings around key discussions, changes in access and the separation itself. Explain the significant events in language owners and counsel can follow.
Support the next decision
Deliver the technical evidence and a concise report for counsel to assess concerns involving confidential information, trade secrets or fiduciary duties. Discuss further expert support when needed.
Methodology
From the business question to a clear report
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Define the scope
Discuss the business events, authorized sources, period and questions. Confirm the flat-rate examination scope.
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Preserve the records
Forensically preserve the agreed computer, email and documents and record their handling.
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Analyze and correlate
Examine relevant activity across the sources and connect the events into a timeline.
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Explain the findings
Provide a clear, concise report and discuss the findings with the business and counsel.
Evidence commonly examined
Evidence reviewed
- Computer-system and file activity
- Business email, attachments and chat histories
- Documents and cloud storage such as OneDrive, Google Workspace, Box and Dropbox
- Available AI-use records and supporting account activity
What you can expect
What you receive
- Forensic preservation and evidence-handling documentation
- A timeline of relevant events and activity
- A concise report for non-technical readers
- Supporting records and a discussion of the findings
Frequently asked
Common questions
My business partner and I are separating. Can GDF help examine the company records?
Yes. GDF Core Analysis preserves and examines agreed business records through an authorized forensic engagement. We build a clear timeline of relevant activity and explain the findings for business owners and counsel.
Is Core Analysis a flat-rate service for partner separations?
Yes. We define the authorized sources, period, questions and reporting scope before work begins and provide Core Analysis at a flat rate for that examination.
Can you examine copying or deletion of proprietary information?
Yes. We examine relevant file, email and account records and correlate the events to explain activity involving the business information in question.
Can you review shared cloud storage and chat histories?
Yes. The agreed examination can include authorized email, chats, OneDrive, Google Workspace, Box, Dropbox and available AI-use records, alongside the computer evidence.
Can the findings help our attorneys assess trade-secret or fiduciary-duty issues?
Yes. Core Analysis provides a documented technical record for counsel to evaluate those concerns and plan the next steps in the matter.
Will the report make sense to business owners?
Yes. GDF presents the relevant events, supporting evidence and timeline in plain language so non-technical readers can understand the activity identified.
Talk with an examiner
Discuss your matter and next step
Tell us the systems, evidence and deadline. We can review relevant experience, potential conflicts and the scope before engagement.
Since 1992 · 24/7 dispatch · Court-tested experts
Talk with an examiner
Discuss the matter and the next step.
Tell us what happened and what you need to find out. Speak with a GDF expert about how we can help.
24/7 hotline: 1-800-868-8189