Analytics for Judges and Attorneys
An increasing number of databases provide detailed analytics on cases being handled by attorneys, law firms, and judges:
- Bloomberg Law - Litigation AnalyticsProvides detailed customizable charts summarizing federal trial court dockets for judges and law firms. For law firms, Bloomberg provides information on case types they handle, jurisdictions they practice in, and companies they represent. For judges, Bloomberg provides information on how often they grant and deny specific types of motions by case type, how often they are overturned, how long cases before them typically take; and how often companies and law firms have appeared before them. Each chart is followed by links to the underlying dockets for the cases.
- Westlaw Profiler - Profiles of Attorneys & JudgesProvides analytics for individual attorneys (not firms) and for judges from state and federal courts nationwide. To access, click Directories and then select All Professionals or Attorneys & Judges under Westlaw Profiler. Search for a judge's or attorney's name to retrieve a basic profile of the judge or attorney; references linking to relevant dockets, cases, and news; and reports on their Litigation History. For judges, there are additional reports on Expert Challenge, Judicial Motion, and Judicial Reversal.
Litigation History reports for attorneys includes caseload, case types, clients, industries, whether they typically represent the plaintiff or defendant, what courts they typically appear in, and what judges they have appeared before. Litigation History reports for judges include caseload, case types, industries, and parties, law firms and attorneys that have appeared before them. For any report, click on the number of cases to view the underlying dockets. Click Filter in the upper right corner to filter based on type of case or motion, outcomes, time to decide, and parties. Filtering will provide more detailed information, such as highly specific case subtypes. - Lexis Litigation Profile SuiteProvides analytics for judges from state and federal courts nationwide. To access, click the Open Product Menu squares in the upper left corner and then click Litigation Profile Suite. Search for a judge’s name to retrieve a basic profile of the judge; charts showing the types of cases and motions they have handled; and links to relevant dockets, cases, and news.
- Lexis Advance- Lex MachinaLexis provides a limited version of Lex Machina that includes analytics for judges from federal district courts nationwide, Delaware Chancery Court, and selected federal agencies. To access, search for a judge's name in Cases > Advanced Search > Judges field. Access any case, then select the judge’s name in the right sidebar under Legal Analytics. Lexis will provide you with a basic report showing the number of cases and median case length by topic.
There are also several more comprehensive analytics tools that the Loyola library does not subscribe to but that your firm might subscribe to in practice:
- Lex MachinaThe full version of Lex Machina provides more detailed analytics for judges, as well as analytics for law firms and companies.
- Westlaw Monitor SuiteProvides analytics on judges and law firms, similar to those provided by Westlaw Profiler. Westlaw provides the law library with a limited number of accounts for the use of librarians and Career Development Office staff only. Speak to a librarian if you would like to retrieve information on a specific judge or law firm.
Directly Searching Cases by Judges and Attorneys
Because analytics are pricey, many firms do not include them in their Lexis and Westlaw subscriptions or may discourage associates from using them unless necessary. For a cheaper alternative, you can always search cases directly by accessing Cases > Advanced (on Westlaw) or Cases > Advanced Search (on Lexis). This will provide a form with fields that allow you to search for all cases by a specific judge or attorney.
For best results:
- Search the names of law firms in quotes, including only the minimum information necessary to retrieve the law firm. For example, search "Perkins Coie" not "Perkins Coie LLP" to ensure that you do not miss cases that omit the LLP or write "Perkins Coie, LLP".
- Search the names of attorneys and judges with a /3 between the first and last name (e.g. Otis /3 Wright). This tells the database to search for the first name within three words of the last name, allowing you to find all results, whether or not they omit or include the middle name and whether or not they place the family name first (e.g. Otis Wright) or last (e.g. Wright, Otis).
- If you are not finding results for a judge, search only the judge's last name. Some cases will omit the judge's first name.