• Contact

    • Industry

    Higher Education

    Montgomery McCracken’s Higher Education Industry Group has earned a reputation for broad experience in representing institutions of higher learning.

    Our group includes attorneys from many different practice areas who have represented large and small public and private schools and other public and private entities. With decades of collective experience, our attorneys understand the issues higher education institutions face at every level up to the General Counsel, President, and Board.

    In addition to the usual array of litigation services, we are regularly engaged for day-to-day counseling and compliance activities, including training and policy development. When lawsuits do arise, we are poised to handle all types of litigation in federal and state courts and before governmental agencies.

    Capabilities Include:

    We regularly counsel institutions on issues including:

    Title IX
    • Policy consultation
    • Compliance guidance
    • Reporting
    • Training
    • Investigations
      • Sexual misconduct
      • Sex-based discrimination
    • Advising
    • Hearing adjudication
    • Appeal adjudication
    • Litigation
    Faculty, Student, and Administrative Matters
    • Disciplinary procedures and investigations
    • Alcohol and substance abuse policies
    • Campus safety and security
    • Internal investigations
    Compliance
    • Clery, ADA, ADEA, FERPA, HIPAA, Title VI, VII and IX compliance and Pennsylvania Department of Education requirements
    • DOE / OCR investigations
    • Research funding and grant compliance
    • Charitable solicitation registration
    Employment and Labor
    • Personnel matters, including coaching, promotion, discipline, and termination
    • Employment litigation (discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, ADA/FMLA, and other federal or state claims)
    • Investigation of employee complaints
    • Union negotiations, NLRB, and state labor board matters
    • Workforce management and downsizing
    Corporate, Tax, and Nonprofit
    • Governance
    • Unrelated business income tax
    • Excess benefits
    • Form 990 reporting
    • Bond offerings and financing
    • Loan and scholarship policies
    • Charitable contribution planning
    • Contribution stewardship
    • Investment and endowment policies
    • Endowment management
    Intellectual Property and Information Technology
    • IP Counseling and Transactions
      • Branding strategy, patent and trademark prosecution, IP portfolio maintenance and management
      • Patentability, enforceability, freedom to practice, and likelihood of confusion analyses
      • Copyright registration and renewals
      • IP licensing, assignments, sales, joint ventures
      • Software sale and licensing agreements (SAAS, MSA, EULA, SLA agreements, and source-code escrow agreements, open source licensing issues), third party developer contracts, and open source issues
      • Privacy and cybersecurity policies
      • Trade secret and confidential information policies and protection, invention assignment and contribution agreements
      • Transfer pricing agreements
    • IP Disputes and Litigation
      • Patent, trademark, and copyright infringement
      • Trade secret misappropriation, unfair trade practices, DTSA, Lanham Act claims
      • IP ownership disputes
      • Software licensing and M&A litigation
      • Cybersquatting and cyber law disputes and litigation
      • TTAB appeals and cancelation proceedings
      • Design patent litigation
      • Copyright claims board actions
      • PTAB and IPR proceedings
    Construction, Land Use, Zoning, and Real Estate
    • Reciprocal maintenance, campus operation and access agreements
    • Zoning and land use compliance
    • Lease, license and sale transactions
    • Construction and campus expansion
    • Challenges to sales and real estate tax exemptions
    Educational Programming

    Our attorneys present on Title IX and related topics and have offered a variety of educational programs for higher education clients. Our Higher Education forums have addressed hot topics such as free speech on campus, helicopter parenting, alcohol and drugs, suicide on campus, lessons from the Freeh Report, risk management, and Title IX compliance.

    Catastrophic Sports Injury Defense

    We are active in the representation of schools facing claims arising from alleged premature return-to-play, Second Impact Syndrome, and other negligence theories. We advise on institutional liability issues for sports-related and other injuries and assist in developing institutional risk management assessments and programs.

    Higher Education Leadership

    View Full Team

    Carrie Evans Wilson

    Philadelphia

    SHARED THINKING

    View all insights

    In first big case of the term, Supreme Court tackles free speech and LGBTQ rights

    Since 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court has adjudicated two landmark cases involving transgender-related rights. Its new term includes several more. These closely watched cases could have seismic ramifications – especially […]

    Read More

    Update on Title IX Enforcement – OCR Is Moving Beyond Sports

    If you haven’t read the recent press releases from the Department of Education reflecting their summer enforcement focus around Title IX, below we’ll dive into what happened this month. Penn’s agreement […]

    Read More

    Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Trans-Athlete Bans

    As the Supreme Court Prepares to Decide the Legality of Trans-Athlete Bans, Schools Must Ready Themselves for Far-Reaching Precedent Addressing “On the Basis of Sex” On July 3, 2025, the […]

    Read More

    Supreme Court Issues Nationwide Injunction Ruling – Just How Much Will It Change the Litigation Landscape for Schools, Their Students, and Their Employees?

    The Supreme Court issued its landmark decision limiting the use of universal injunctions last month, with the majority relying largely on originalist principles to support its decision. Trump v. CASA, Inc., […]

    Read More

    Contact Us

    Collaboration is Our Best Practice