The audit page

The nine rules.

These are hardcoded regular expressions. Not an AI judgment. If any of them match your letter, we will not write you a response draft — we will hand you a pre-meeting brief for the lawyer instead. This page exists so you can audit the criteria before you paste anything.

01

Federal registered trademark cited

Trigger
Any mention of a USPTO-registered trademark accompanied by a registration or serial number pattern.
Statute cited
15 U.S.C. § 1114 — Lanham Act infringement
Read the source →
Why this escalates
A cited registration number carries statutory presumptions of validity (§ 1057) and unlocks the enhanced-damages framework (§ 1117). A self-drafted response can waive defenses.
02

Statutory copyright damages + registration cited

Trigger
Statutory-damages language (or a $750-to-$150,000 range) AND a specific copyright registration number (VA/PA/TXu prefixes).
Statute cited
17 U.S.C. § 504(c)
Read the source →
Why this escalates
Statutory damages up to $150,000 per work are only available with a pre-infringement registration. If the letter cites both, the exposure math is not boilerplate.
03

Any patent claim

Trigger
Any mention of "patent" or "U.S. Pat. No.".
Statute cited
35 U.S.C. § 271 — patent infringement
Read the source →
Why this escalates
Patent litigation is federal-court only and requires a patent-bar-registered attorney. Local patent rules (in each federal district) have specialized claim-construction procedures.
04

Defamation, libel, or slander

Trigger
Any of: defamation, defamatory, libel, slander, false light.
Statute cited
State common law; anti-SLAPP statutes (Cal. § 425.16, N.Y. § 76-a, Tex. § 27.001)
Read the source →
Why this escalates
Defamation law is state-specific. Some states require retraction demands within a few days and impose short anti-SLAPP filing windows.
05

DMCA counter-notice request

Trigger
Any mention of "counter-notice" or 17 U.S.C. § 512(g).
Statute cited
17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3)
Read the source →
Why this escalates
Filing a counter-notice consents to federal jurisdiction and personal service. That is a litigation posture, not a checkbox.
06

Settlement demand ≥ $5,000

Trigger
Any dollar amount ≥ $5,000 within settlement or demand context.
Statute cited
Fed. R. Evid. 408
Read the source →
Why this escalates
Above roughly $5,000, an untrained response can waive defenses or accidentally acknowledge liability. Attorney cost is small vs. exposure.
07

Criminal referral language

Trigger
Any of: criminal, wire fraud, mail fraud, larceny, extortion, embezzlement, RICO, "theft of", prosecut*.
Statute cited
18 U.S.C. § 1343 + state penal codes
Read the source →
Why this escalates
Statements to opposing counsel are not privileged. Anything written can be handed to prosecutors. Do not respond in writing without counsel.
08

Government / agency signer

Trigger
Any signer identified as a District Attorney, Attorney General, "Department of Justice", or state department / office.
Statute cited
State + federal Administrative Procedure Acts (5 U.S.C. § 551 et seq.)
Read the source →
Why this escalates
APA-governed responses have procedural and evidentiary rules that a self-drafted reply will not satisfy.
09

Non-compete enforcement

Trigger
Any of: non-compete, non compete, restrictive covenant, no-hire covenant.
Statute cited
State law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. § 16600 voids most; FTC rulemaking status contested)
Read the source →
Why this escalates
Non-compete law shifted dramatically in 2024–2025. Whether the covenant is enforceable in your state changes the entire strategy.
When a rule fires

State bar referral directories.

These are the official referral services run by state bar associations. Fees for initial consults through these services are typically capped ($25–$75 for 30 minutes) — significantly less than an off-the-street IP consult.

Honest limits

What this is not.

Not legal advice.

No attorney-client relationship. No formal opinion of law. If the rule fires, engage counsel.

Not a lawyer replacement.

For the escalation cases you should still hire one. The brief exists to compress intake.

Not a prediction engine.

We do not publish a % of letters that are boilerplate — we do not have a dataset for that. Instead we cite the observable signals in your letter.

Paste a Letter →See Pricing