Lex Machina®, the LexisNexis® Legal Analytics® platform, has provided U.S. law schools with complimentary public-interest access to our leading collection of analytics and insights for civil rights litigation in federal courts.  

We warmly invite all current law students, faculty, and professional staff in the United States with an active Lexis+ profile to register here for free public-interest access to Lex Machina today.  

The Lex Machina platform delivers exclusive data and insights on civil litigation that enable professors and students to strengthen legal research and empirical scholarship, as well as improve law clinic case outcomes. Our unique, data-driven insights also allow law students to develop targeted career and interview strategies, making it simple for students to identify what sets apart the litigation experiences of a lawyer, firm, or judge from their peers. 

The Legal Analytics Platform for Civil Rights Litigation 

Lex Machina is the premier source for data and insights on civil rights litigation in federal courts, including powerful analytics on over 270,000 cases in which plaintiffs claimed violations of rights protected under the U.S. Constitution or various statutes. Law schools’ public-interest access to Lex Machina includes comprehensive data, visualizations, dockets, and documents for federal lawsuits filed since 2009 with claims arising from:

• The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
• Purported misconduct concerning law enforcement officers and entities
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and state disability rights laws
• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and state fair-housing laws
• The federal Voting Rights Act and states’ right-to-vote acts
• Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), and
• Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

Through this public-interest program, academic scholars can quickly and easily learn what happened in each of those cases – who won, by what procedural means, under what findings, how long it took, what damages were awarded, what equitable remedies were imposed, and whether the district court outcome survived appeal, as well as key experience metrics related to the attorneys, law firms, parties, and judges involved.

Litigation Analytics for Law Clinic Success 

Lex Machina enables law students and clinics to practice like the pros. In response to an April 2025 survey, over 95% of polled law firm attorneys and professional staff agreed that analytics are valuable to their practice. Seven out of ten reported that clients expect them to reference litigation analytics while working on their files. 

For example, consider a clinic pursuing a claim on behalf of a client alleging improper refusal to accommodate a service animal. What relevant experience does opposing counsel and their client have with similar claims? Which arguments resonated with our judge during summary judgment in other service animal cases? What approaches proved effective with juries in comparable trial contexts? How long do these cases typically take, and what range of potential outcomes can we reasonably estimate for our client? With our platform, law students and clinic faculty can answer these questions and more with greater confidence and precision than traditional methods allow. 

“Lex Machina gives us the ability to understand how our judge will likely rule. We look at the past motions the judge has granted or denied, and we look into their reasoning behind them,” said attorney Jas Jordan, founding partner of the The Law Office of Jas Jordan in Houston, Texas. “It puts us in a better position to predict the possible outcome for our motion, so it’s very beneficial to give us a preview into what the judge may rule.”

Litigation Analytics for Compelling Research and Scholarship 

Empirical legal scholars agree on the value of Lex Machina for their research. “Lex Machina allows comprehensive searching of unpublished as well as published cases, permitting a wide view of judicial practices,” wrote Lynda Oswald, the Louis and Myrtle Moskowitz Research Professor of Business and Law at the University of Michigan, in An Empirical Analysis of Permanent Injunction Life in Trade Secret Misappropriation Cases, 109 Iowa L. Rev. 2185 (2024).

“Lex Machina’s legal analytics allow students to visualize how litigation evolves and to observe trends over time,” said Natalya Shnitser, Professor and David and Pamela Donahue Faculty Fellow at Boston College Law School, in a 2023 interview. “Students can study litigation outcomes across jurisdictions, can compare law firms’ and judges’ experience and outcomes and can predict the timelines to resolution for various types of motions and cases.”

Litigation Analytics for Data-Driven Career and Interview Preparation 

Impactful data and unparalleled insights from Lex Machina allow law students to differentiate themselves for success. By leveraging insights from Lex Machina, a law student can stand out by identifying how the interviewers' unique litigation experiences differ from those of others and explain how those differences reverberate with the student’s own interests and skills.

Are you a current member of the faculty, staff, or student body at a U.S. law school that does not already have access to federal content in Lex Machina? Sign up here today following a short introductory video.

FAQ’s 

1. Who qualifies for public-interest access? 
   Any current law student, faculty member, or staff member at a U.S. law school with an active Lexis+ profile.
2. What types of cases are included in the civil rights module? 
   The module includes federal cases filed since 2009 covering constitutional claims, ADA, Title IX, IDEA, housing rights, voting rights, religious freedom, and more.
3. How do law clinics benefit from litigation analytics? 
   Clinics can analyze case timelines, compare arguments, study judicial rulings, and prepare clients with data-backed expectations.
4. Can students use analytics for job interviews? 
   Yes. Students can differentiate themselves by understanding how firms and judges have handled similar cases, helping them speak confidently about litigation trends.
5. Is this access permanent for law schools? 
   The program is ongoing as part of the new Lex Machina public-interest initiative. Students retain access while enrolled with an active Lexis+ profile.