Clear boundaries protect the client and the work.

1. Website information only

Website content is provided for general informational and business-development purposes. Visiting this site, sending an inquiry or reviewing public materials does not create a client, fiduciary, advisory, partnership, agency or other professional relationship.

2. Operator

Governance-related commercial services are executed by BlackGuard LLC. Enterprise strategy, pricing and commercial IP controls are governed through Davis & Partners Inc.

3. Nature of services

BlackGuard provides bounded governance assessments, independent governance analysis, separately approved expanded institutional review, advisory findings and decision support. Unless separately agreed in writing, services do not include legal advice, accounting advice, tax advice, investment advice, engineering, clinical services, regulatory certification or other regulated professional services.

4. Engagement required

No engagement exists until the parties execute written terms defining scope, deliverables, payment, confidentiality, evidence handling and applicable rights. Website descriptions do not override an executed agreement.

Authority to purchase or commission an analysis is separate from authority to grant access to a subject institution's internal records, personnel, systems or facilities. Evidence access must be separately lawful, authorized and within the written scope.

5. Published standard analysis terms

The standard Executive Governability Assessment and the standard Independent Governance Analysis are each $7,500 within their published standard scope. Standard payment is 50% due at engagement and 50% due before release of the final report or analysis and the client briefing.

The Executive Governability Assessment may include bounded institution-authorized internal evidence and stakeholder access within standard scope. Materially deeper institution-authorized access, broader institutional scope, onsite work or comparable expansion may be separately scoped as an Expanded Institutional Governance Review at the approved $12,500–$25,000 range.

The Independent Governance Analysis proceeds from public evidence and requester-provided evidence that BlackGuard is authorized to receive and use. It does not include or promise subject-institution internal access, compelled cooperation, internal stakeholder interviews, system access, facilities access or production of nonpublic institutional records. If an Independent Governance Analysis materially exceeds standard scope, the matter is narrowed or separately rescoped and priced before additional substantive work proceeds. Higher price does not create institutional access rights.

6. Client ownership of results

Upon full payment, the client owns the client-specific assessment or analysis results and the agreed final deliverables expressly identified in the written engagement. Client ownership may include client-specific findings, maps, recommendations, conclusions and other final work product identified as a deliverable.

Client ownership does not transfer IAD/IAGD, underlying frameworks or constructs, reusable analytical methodology, questions, coding or scoring logic, workflows, BlackGuard™ OS mechanics, commercial templates, generalized know-how, BGMA rights, drafts, internal workpapers or derivative scholarly rights.

7. Client privacy and disclosure control

Client identity, nonpublic evidence, findings, results, drafts and final deliverables are private by default. BlackGuard does not identify the client or disclose the engagement, assessment, analysis or final results without client authorization except where disclosure is legally required or reasonably necessary to protect legal rights.

The client may keep the final assessment or analysis private, disclose selected portions, or disclose it in full. Client disclosure rights do not override privilege, third-party confidentiality, law, court order or contractual restrictions affecting underlying materials. A materially edited excerpt may not be presented as BlackGuard’s unchanged conclusion.

8. Intellectual-property boundary

BlackGuard™ and BlackGuard commercial enterprise materials are protected commercial IP controlled by Davis & Partners Inc. The Institutional Authority Dynamics academic research enterprise, including IAGD and associated scholarly IP, is personally owned by Daron L. Davis unless particular rights are separately assigned or licensed in writing.

Commercial use of research concepts and client ownership of final results do not transfer ownership of the research enterprise, reusable methodology or protected background IP. Where protected background IP is embedded in a client-owned final deliverable, the client receives the rights reasonably necessary to use and disclose that final deliverable without acquiring ownership of the underlying methodology.

9. No methodology transfer

Unless expressly authorized in writing, no engagement grants ownership of IAD/IAGD, reusable analytical methodology, BlackGuard operating mechanics, derivative scholarly rights, sublicensing rights, BGMA rights or rights to recreate protected templates, systems or methods.

10. Evidence and outcomes

BlackGuard does not guarantee a preferred finding, business outcome, policy result, regulatory result or risk elimination. Findings are bounded by the evidence, scope, time period and limitations documented in the engagement.

Requester-provided nonpublic evidence may be considered only when BlackGuard is reasonably satisfied that the requester is authorized to provide it and that BlackGuard may lawfully receive and use it for the engagement. BlackGuard does not knowingly accept material supplied in violation of law, court order, privilege, contractual confidentiality, access restrictions or other binding rights. Material uncertainty over evidence rights may pause intake or require exclusion of the material.

11. Confidentiality and research firewall

Client information does not automatically become academic research data, publication material, conference material, case-study material, teaching material or training data. Any reuse by BlackGuard requires separate written client authorization and any applicable legal, ethical or institutional controls.

12. External links

This site links to third-party resources including scholarly repositories, media outlets and professional platforms. BlackGuard does not control their content, privacy practices or availability.

13. Acceptable website use

Users may not attempt unauthorized access, interfere with site operation, impersonate BlackGuard, misrepresent affiliation, or reproduce protected material for commercial exploitation in violation of applicable law or written restrictions.

14. Governing law

Website terms are governed by the laws of North Carolina, United States, without altering any separate governing-law provision in an executed client agreement.

15. Contact

Questions about these terms or intellectual-property use may be sent to info@blackguardgovernance.space.