Insights

Analysis from the front lines of IP & technology law.

Our attorneys write about the developments shaping intellectual property — from the PTAB and the Federal Circuit to the practical realities of protecting fast-moving technology.

HealthcareInsurance

Health Coverage Denial and Appeal Checklist: A Practical Checklist

A deadline driven checklist for a health insurance denial. It opens with the three day one questions including whether the plan is self funded, which changes the applicable law, the available remedies, and the standard of review. It then runs the claim file request that produces the clinical criteria and reviewer credentials, the line by line comparison of those criteria against the medical record, the letter of medical necessity that must answer each stated ground, the internal appeal and its expedited track, the external review that binds the plan and is most often skipped, the regulatory complaints to file in parallel, the bill management steps while the appeal is pending, and the ERISA record rule that makes the internal appeal the only opportunity to build a file.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 27, 20268 min read

ConsumerFraud and Scams

Fraud Response Toolkit: Freeze Requests, Dispute Letters, Reports, and Recovery Steps

This toolkit contains the calls, letters, and worksheets that determine how much of a fraud loss is recovered, ordered strictly by urgency. It opens with a fraud department phone script and a wire recall request, because the difference between recovery and no recovery is measured in hours, followed by a freeze letter to the receiving institution. It provides a written dispute that triggers error resolution obligations and a demand for provisional credit, an escalation letter for the denial that fraud-induced transfers usually receive, an IC3 narrative structure, a police report worksheet, and a master incident log. It then covers the account security sweep including the email forwarding rule attackers hide, the prevention documents worth setting up in ten minutes, and the elder exploitation demands — an accounting from an agent, a transfer hold request, and an APS report.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 26, 202618 min read

ImmigrationNaturalization

U.S. Citizenship Through Marriage

Marrying a U.S. citizen opens a path to a green card and, eventually, naturalized citizenship — but it is a multi-year, multi-form journey, not a shortcut. This guide walks through every stage in plain English with primary authority: the I-130 family petition, the choice between adjustment of status (Form I-485) and consular processing, the Affidavit of Support and the public-charge rule, conditional permanent residence and the I-751 petition to remove conditions, and the shortened three-year naturalization track for spouses under INA Section 319(a). It explains what makes a marriage "bona fide" under cases like Bark v. INS, the Stokes interview, and the severe and permanent consequences of marriage fraud under INA Section 204(c). It covers good moral character, continuous residence, physical presence, and the English and civics requirements, plus the VAWA self-petition and I-751 waivers that protect abused and divorced spouses. Worked hypotheticals illustrate common scenarios, and a detailed FAQ answers the questions couples ask most. Because forms, fees, and timelines change constantly, the article flags where to verify current information and when to bring in counsel.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 25, 202646 min read

ConstitutionalGovernment Transparency

Public Records Request and Appeal Checklist: A Practical Checklist

This checklist runs a public records request from drafting through appeal and, if necessary, litigation. It covers identifying the right statute and the right office, drafting a request that names records rather than asking questions, the preservation demand that must accompany any request for perishable material, fee waiver and expedited processing, and the tracking that makes an appeal possible. It then works the response review that identifies the defects most denials contain, the appeal that produces most of the records that get released, and the litigation posture. A final section covers open meetings compliance and complaints.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 25, 20267 min read

EducationStudent Rights

Responding to a School Discipline Matter: A Practical Guide for Parents

This guide covers a school discipline matter from the phone call through the appeal, in the order the work has to be done. It opens with what to do in the first hour and the four documents to obtain before any meeting, then explains the question that changes the most outcomes — how many days the student has been removed this year, counting partial days and in-school removals. It walks through the manifestation determination and stay-put protections for students with disabilities, the written evaluation request that can bring an unidentified student within them, and how to prepare for and conduct the meeting itself. It closes with the appeal, what actually wins on it, expungement of the record, and the free help that exists in every state and is almost never used.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 22, 202627 min read

HousingManufactured Housing

Buying and Living in a Manufactured Home: A Practical Guide

This guide walks a manufactured home from the shopping trip through the years of living in it and, eventually, selling it. It covers what to inspect and what to ask before signing, why dealer-arranged financing is rarely the best available, and the difference in cost between a chattel loan and a mortgage that turns on nothing but how the home is titled. It explains how to read a lot lease against your state's mobile home park act, what a park can and cannot do about rent, rules, utilities, and buyer approval, and how to respond to an increase, a rule change, or an eviction notice. It closes with the two events that decide most manufactured housing outcomes: a defect discovered in the first year, and a park closure notice with a purchase window measured in weeks.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 22, 202628 min read

Intellectual PropertyPatent Litigation

Global Patent Litigation Strategies: Navigating the Complex Web of International IP Disputes

This in-depth guide explains how to plan, coordinate, and prosecute patent litigation across multiple countries when a single product line infringes parallel patents in many markets. It begins with the bedrock principle of territoriality and the treaty architecture (Paris Convention priority, the PCT, and the European Patent Convention) that lets innovators build a coordinated multinational portfolio, then walks through the major litigation forums: the U.S. district courts and the International Trade Commission, the Unified Patent Court and Germany's bifurcated system, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, and Korea. It analyzes the standard-essential patent (SEP) and FRAND wars in detail, including the Huawei v. ZTE protocol, global rate-setting in Unwired Planet v. Huawei and the InterDigital litigation, the German Sisvel v. Haier line, and the escalating tit-for-tat of anti-suit and anti-anti-suit injunctions. The article also covers cross-border discovery tools (28 U.S.C. 1782, the Hague Evidence Convention, and the Aerospatiale comity analysis), coordination of parallel proceedings and global settlements, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments abroad. Throughout, it offers concrete worked examples and practical guidance for both patent owners and accused infringers operating on a global stage.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 19, 202665 min read

ConsumerFraud and Scams

Fraud Response and Elder Exploitation Checklist: A Practical Checklist

This checklist is ordered by urgency, because in fraud response the sequence determines the outcome. It opens with the first hour after money moves and the exact words to use with a fraud department, then the four questions that identify a scam in progress and the two rules that defeat most of them. It sets out recovery prospects by payment method and the error resolution deadlines that cap liability, the complete reporting sequence with what each agency needs, and the account-securing steps that close off the access the scammer obtained. It closes with the elder exploitation sequence — the accounting an agent can be compelled to give, the transfer hold banks can now place, and the doctrines that recover property — plus the recovery scam and the tax injury that follow.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 18, 20269 min read

EducationStudent Rights

School Discipline and Student Rights: Suspension, Expulsion, Searches, and Speech

School discipline is the point where a child's education, a family's schedule, and a body of constitutional and statutory law collide, usually in a fifteen-minute meeting nobody prepared for. This article explains the due process that actually attaches to a suspension, which is less than parents expect for short removals and considerably more for long ones, and the additional protections that apply when the student has a disability — including the manifestation determination that changes everything and the stay-put rule most parents have never heard of. It covers student speech from the substantial disruption standard through the off-campus question the Supreme Court addressed recently, the reduced search standard that applies at school and its limits, and the involvement of school resource officers that converts a discipline matter into a delinquency case. It closes on truancy, records, and the alternatives to exclusion.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 14, 202628 min read

HousingManufactured Housing

Manufactured Homes and Mobile Home Parks: Titles, Lot Rents, and the Law of a Home You Cannot Move

A manufactured home is the only kind of housing where the resident usually owns the house and rents the ground it sits on, and that split is the source of nearly every problem in the field. This article explains the HUD code that governs how these homes are built, why the title is usually a vehicle-style certificate rather than a deed, and what converting to real property actually accomplishes. It covers the ground lease relationship — lot rent increases, park rules, utility pass-throughs, and the evictions that leave a homeowner with a house they cannot afford to move and cannot sell in place. It examines park closures and the relocation assistance and opportunity-to-purchase laws that a growing number of states have enacted, the financing gap between chattel loans and mortgages, and the warranty and installation claims available when a new home is defective.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 13, 202627 min read

HealthcareInsurance

Appealing a Health Insurance Denial: A Practical Guide

This guide runs a health insurance appeal from the day the denial arrives through external review and, if necessary, into court. It covers the first question that changes everything, whether the plan is self funded or insured, the claim file request that produces the clinical criteria and reviewer credentials the denial rests on, how to read those criteria against your own records, how to get a letter of medical necessity that answers each stated ground rather than praising the treatment in general, the internal appeal deadlines and expedited track, the external review that overturns a large share of denials and binds the plan, the regulatory complaints that produce movement, and the ERISA rule that makes the internal appeal the only chance to build a record.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 13, 202628 min read

LitigationGeneral Litigation

Evaluating and Assessing a Civil Lawsuit

A rigorous early case assessment is the single most valuable—and most underinvested—hour a litigator spends on a dispute. This article walks corporate counsel and outside litigators through the full arc of assessing a civil lawsuit, following a hypothetical defendant from the moment a dispute surfaces to judgment and appeal. It works methodically through the questions that actually decide whether a case is worth bringing or fighting: can the plaintiff prove every element of the claim under the governing burden of proof; is there personal jurisdiction and proper venue; has the statute of limitations run; what are liability and damages worth separately; and—the question lawyers forget until it is too late—can a judgment ever be collected. It then turns to the quantitative tools that turn judgment into a defensible number (decision trees and expected value), the fee arrangements and ethical rules (Model Rules 1.5 and 1.7) that govern who pays and on what terms, and the modern frontier of e-discovery, predictive analytics, and third-party litigation funding. The throughline: assessment is not about predicting outcomes but about shaping them.

Casey Scott McKayJuly 12, 202648 min read