Lex Machina Releases 2022 Law Firms Activity Report

With a world in flux and a dynamically evolving legal profession, it is crucial to be able to assess competitor law firms or evaluate potential counsel

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Lex Machina

Feb 24, 2022, 11:00 ET

MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Lex Machina and LexisNexis release their latest Law Firms Activity Report, which surveys the most active law firms in federal district court. The report focuses on the three-year period from 2019 to 2021 and analyzes law firm activity in 16 practice areas and in cases caused by COVID-19. The final section of the report includes an analysis of the overall most active law firms in federal district court.

Each practice area has specific traits and nuances, and the report discusses the most active firms in each particular practice area. The Law Firms Activity Report may be used for strategic planning, marketing, counsel evaluation, or competitive analysis in order to gauge market leaders and competitors against a dynamic, challenging legal landscape.

"The world is still rapidly changing, and so is the legal industry," said Gloria Huang, Lex Machina's Legal Content Associate and report author. "It's become even more critical for companies and law firms to stay up-to-date on what their potential counsel or competitors are doing. Lex Machina provides an unmatched comprehensive analysis of law firms' litigation activity in federal court, and our Law Firms Activity Report gives readers a window into this crucial information."

Further findings from the report include:

The Department of Justice remained the most active counsel, filing over 7,000 cases on behalf of plaintiffs and defending nearly 30,000 cases (after excluding multidistrict litigation associated cases).
The most active firms who filed and defended lawsuits caused by COVID-19 were involved in large numbers of cases involving employment claims or claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (which falls under Lex Machina's Civil Rights case type).
Major employment firms appeared on multiple "most active" lists in addition to their own practice area, including most active firms involved with cases caused by COVID-19 and most active firms overall.
Class actions and suits related to one particular event continued to be influential in the overall landscape of litigation, even after excluding multidistrict litigation associated cases. These suits account for big case counts particularly in product liability, torts, and insurance practice areas.
While law firms with big case counts tended to have dedicated specializations, there were several national litigation firms that appeared across several practice areas.

Lex Machina's reports and software enable practitioners to devise data-driven litigation strategies. The metrics in this report may help readers assess potential counsel or competitors. This research supplements traditional legal research and anecdotal data for a competitive edge in litigation.

Law Firms Activity Report Webcast
Lex Machina is hosting a webcast to discuss the report on February 24, 2022 at noon EST (9am PST) with Natalie Rodriguez, Assistant Managing Editor for Law360 Pulse and co-host of Law360's Supreme Court podcast, and Gloria Huang, Lex Machina's Legal Content Associate and report author. Register for the event here: https://pages.lexmachina.com/2022-Law-Firms-Activity-Report-Webcast_LP.html

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional
LexisNexis Legal & Professional is a leading global provider of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics that help customers increase productivity, improve decision-making and outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 160 countries with 10,400 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

About Lex Machina
Lex Machina fundamentally changes how companies and law firms compete in the business and practice of law. The company provides strategic insights on judges, lawyers, law firms, parties, and other critical information across 17 federal practice areas and a rapidly growing number of state courts. Lex Machina allows law firms and companies to predict the behaviors and outcomes that different legal strategies will produce, enabling them to win cases and close business.

Lex Machina was named "2021 Legal Technology Trailblazer" (National Law Journal Trailblazer Awards, 2021), Winner of the "Media Excellence" Award for Analytics/Big Data (13th Annual Media Excellence Award, 2021), "Best Decision Management Solution" (AI Breakthrough Awards, 2019), and "Disruptor of the Year" (Changing Lawyer Awards, 2019). Based in Silicon Valley, Lex Machina is part of LexisNexis, a leading global provider of legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics. For more information, please visit www.lexmachina.com.

SOURCE Lex Machina