Researching Lawyers & Legal Employers

The page on "Finding Lawyers Who . . ." gives you tips about finding lawyers with certain characteristics--practice area, geographic area, schools attended, etc. The page offers tips about how to find out more about lawyers you already know something about. Either you found them through searches or you've been told you'll be interviewing with them—or maybe a friend or mentor suggested you look them up.

Once you've used legal directories to find lawyers who [practice a certain type of law, went to your college, speak French, or whatever], turn to other directories to fill in more information. Maybe one directory lists practice area but not education; maybe another directory has ratings. The WSBA directory includes section and committee memberships. Look at them all.

Check out organization web pages—law firm, public interest group, government agency. What can you learn about where the lawyer works?

Does the website have profiles of attorneys? (Most firm sites do; public interest groups and government agencies often don't, but it doesn't hurt to look!)

If the lawyers handle any sort of litigation, you can check Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. In addition to opinions (generally appellate cases), you can check for jury verdicts and pleadings.

Bloomberg Law, Lexis, and Westlaw offer services that collect and aggregate data about litigators and judges.

In Bloomberg Law, select "Litigation Analytics" from the "Litigation" tab at the top of the home page. You can then select the type of entity you want to search using the tabs at the top.

In Lexis, click on the "Litigation Analytics" icon on the left side of the home page. In the search bar, select "Attorneys" from the drop-down and run your search. You can similarly search for state or federal judges and law firms. 

In Westlaw, choose Litigation Analytics from the list of Specialty Areas on the main screen. You can find data analytics for judges, courts, attorneys, or firms.

As is often the case, you are well advised to try all three platforms. They might give you different information, sometimes breaking down the data in different ways.