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.

LitigationFederal Practice

Negotiating and Documenting a Litigation Settlement: A Practical Guide

Settlement documentation is done in a hurry by people who want to stop working on the case, which is why it fails in predictable ways. This guide covers the whole sequence: preparing for the negotiation with a valuation and a list of structural issues, running the mediation, drafting a term sheet specific enough to be useful, and then the documentation that determines whether the deal actually holds — release scope, every releasing and released party, enforcement jurisdiction before dismissal, confidentiality that can be complied with, tax allocation, and lien resolution. It closes with the dismissal mechanics and what to do when a settlement is breached. A worked negotiation follows a term sheet through long-form documentation and closing. It also covers multi-defendant allocation, setoff, and contribution protection.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 26, 202628 min read

LitigationFederal Practice

Settlement Agreements, Releases, and Rule 68: Ending a Case on Terms That Hold

Most cases end by agreement, and the agreement is frequently drafted in a hurry by people who want to stop working on the case. This article covers what makes a settlement hold: the release language that determines what is actually resolved, the parties who must sign for the release to bind, the enforcement problem the Supreme Court identified in Kokkonen and how to solve it before dismissal, and the confidentiality and non-disparagement terms that generate most post-settlement disputes. It also explains Rule 68 offers of judgment — a provision more often misunderstood than used, whose cost-shifting consequence turns entirely on whether the underlying statute defines attorney fees as costs. It covers release scope, enforcement mechanics, the retention of jurisdiction problem, tax and reporting consequences, and the sharp edges of an offer of judgment. It closes with the drafting decisions that determine whether a settlement actually ends the dispute.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 25, 202627 min read

Labor and EmploymentPolicies and Procedures

Managing a Multistate Remote Workforce

A single employee working from a state where the company has no other presence makes that company a multistate employer subject to that state's entire employment regime, its tax registration requirements, and frequently its business income tax. Most companies discover this after the fact, one state at a time, through a notice. This guide covers the framework: why the employee's physical work location governs almost everything, the registrations that must be completed before the first paycheck, how payroll tax withholding and the convenience-of-the-employer rule interact across state lines, which wage and hour and leave obligations change by state, what happens to non-competes and pay transparency and expense reimbursement, and how to build a policy that controls where employees may work rather than discovering it later. It closes with the structural questions most companies never decide consciously — how many states to support, and whether to build the compliance function or buy it — and with a relocation checklist.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 24, 202625 min read

LitigationAppellate Practice

Interlocutory Review Toolkit: 1292(b) Certifications, Rule 54(b) Judgments, and Mandamus Petitions

This toolkit collects the documents interlocutory practice actually requires, each annotated with the failure it prevents. It includes an appealability triage sheet to run the day a ruling issues, a deadline tracker for the jurisdictional ten- and fourteen-day clocks, a certification motion drafted to ask a judge to agree the question is hard rather than that she erred, the proposed order language a court can adopt, petition outlines for permission and mandamus, a stipulated judgment that preserves the appeal it enables, stay and emergency motion structures, and a client memorandum that gives the odds honestly. Each template carries drafting notes on the specific findings a court must make and how to give it the language. Adapt everything to the circuit, whose practice on these vehicles varies. The mandamus petition template in particular should be used only where the order is genuinely usurpative.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 24, 202613 min read

ConsumerAir Travel

Air Travel Disruption and Claim Checklist: A Practical Checklist

This checklist runs a flight disruption from the gate through the claim, in the order the work must be done. It opens with the first thirty minutes at the airport, where most of the recoverable value is captured, and the exact phrases that produce specific results. It sets out the denied boarding rules including the distinction between volunteering and being bumped that costs passengers the most money, the refund right that survives a non-refundable fare, and the ancillary fees airlines never volunteer. It covers baggage reporting deadlines that are frequently 24 hours, the disability provisions and the Complaints Resolution Official, and the four claim routes — the airline in writing, the Department of Transportation, a credit card chargeback, and small claims on the contract of carriage.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 24, 20269 min read

LitigationAppellate Practice

Interlocutory Appeal Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Interlocutory review is governed by unforgiving deadlines and narrow exceptions, and most attempts fail before anyone reaches the merits. This checklist runs the analysis in the order it has to happen: identifying whether the ruling is appealable without permission, calendaring the ten- and fourteen-day deadlines the day the ruling issues, triaging whether the ruling justifies the effort, choosing among partial judgment, certification, Rule 23(f), mandamus, and restructuring, drafting each, and obtaining the stay without which the appeal may be pointless. Separate sections cover emergency relief, preservation, and the cost conversation with the client. It sequences the vehicle selection, the certification record, the petition, and the stay request. Every item is written so that a "no" tells you what to do next.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 23, 20267 min read

EducationSpecial Education

Getting and Enforcing an IEP: A Practical Guide for Parents

This guide runs special education from the first suspicion that something is wrong through enforcement. It covers writing the evaluation request that starts the legal clock, what to do when a district refuses, preparing for an IEP meeting including the records to request in advance and the parent concerns statement to submit in writing, how to test whether goals are measurable and whether services are specified in a way that can be enforced, the follow up email that becomes the record, how to obtain and use an independent educational evaluation, how to check whether services are actually being delivered, and which of the four dispute paths fits which problem.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 23, 202629 min read

LitigationAppellate Practice

Seeking an Interlocutory Appeal: A Practical Guide

Seeking review before final judgment is a procedural exercise with unforgiving deadlines and low success rates, and the decisions that matter are made in the week after the adverse ruling. This guide walks through that week and what follows: triaging whether the ruling is appealable at all, choosing among certification, partial judgment, Rule 23(f), mandamus, and restructuring the case, drafting the motion that persuades a district judge to certify without asking her to concede error, meeting the ten- and fourteen-day deadlines that end most attempts, obtaining a stay, and preserving the option where review is not available now. It covers the certification motion, the petition to the court of appeals, Rule 54(b) judgments, the collateral order doctrine, and mandamus practice. Worked examples show which orders draw review and which do not. It also explains how to preserve the issue when review is denied, which is the usual outcome.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 22, 202628 min read

LitigationAppellate Practice

Interlocutory Appeals and Mandamus: Getting Appellate Review Before Final Judgment

American appellate practice is built on the final judgment rule, and everything in this article is an exception to it. Each exception is narrow, each is policed carefully, and litigants routinely mistake an adverse ruling for an appealable one. This article sets out every route to appellate review before final judgment: the statutory categories that are appealable as of right, the certification process under Section 1292(b) and what actually persuades a court to grant it, the collateral order doctrine and why the Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to extend it, Rule 54(b) partial judgments, the specialized class certification and immunity appeals, and mandamus — the remedy of last resort that is granted more often than its reputation suggests. It covers section 1292(b) certification, Rule 54(b) partial judgments, the collateral order doctrine, and mandamus, with an honest account of how rarely each succeeds. It closes with what to do when review is denied.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 21, 202628 min read

GovernmentElection Law

Election Administration and Voter Rights Checklist: A Practical Checklist

This checklist covers elections from three positions: the voter making sure a ballot counts, the candidate getting on the ballot and staying compliant, and the observer or poll worker. It runs an annual registration check, the four deadlines every voter needs, the mail ballot mechanics that cause most rejections, what to do at the polls when something goes wrong, the candidate filing and petition sequence, committee registration and reporting, the coordination firewall, and the recount and contest procedures with their day-scale deadlines.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 21, 20267 min read

Intellectual PropertyTrademark

Responding to a Trademark Cease-and-Desist Letter

A cease-and-desist letter is alarming, but it is the opening move in a negotiation, not the end of your business. This guide walks you through exactly what to do when one lands in your inbox: how to read it like a lawyer, how to size up the sender's rights and your own using the free public record, and how to choose among the realistic response options, from a short representation letter to a substantive denial to a preemptive declaratory-judgment suit. We explain the governing law in plain English and with primary authority, including likelihood of confusion, descriptive and nominative fair use, incontestability, laches, and abandonment, and show how each plays out through worked hypotheticals. We flag the traps, especially careless admissions and the risk that an aggressive response triggers the very lawsuit you were trying to avoid. The aim is a calm, strategic playbook that a founder, a brand manager, and the lawyer they hire can all follow.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 20, 202648 min read

LitigationFederal Practice

Confidentiality Toolkit: Protective Orders, Designation Challenges, and Sealing Motions

This toolkit collects the documents that make confidentiality practice work: a protective order with the tier definitions and challenge procedure that actually get negotiated, a standalone Rule 502(d) order, designation standards that keep designations credible, the sampling letter that resolves over-designation without motion practice, and — the centerpiece — the document-by-document table and business declaration that separate a granted sealing motion from a denied one. It also includes the access log, undertaking form, redaction protocol, disposal certification, and an unsealing response outline. Each template is annotated with its purpose and the failure it prevents. Each template carries drafting notes on the difference between good cause and the public right of access. Adapt everything to the district's local rules, which vary considerably on sealing.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 20, 202615 min read