Almanac of the Federal Judiciary
Almanac of the Federal Judiciary is an excellent tool for researching the personalities of federal judges. Search by keyword, judge's name, district, court, or address. In addition to the standard contact info, age, education, and other biographical information, Almanac of the Federal Judiciary includes a wealth of information that is designed to help unfamiliar attorneys navigate in a judge's courtroom.
Where available, judge profiles include Lawyers Evaluations by lawyers who have practiced before the judge, Noteworthy Rulings which summarize cases that got media attention or were eventually decided by SCOTUS, and Civil and Criminal Practices and Procedures with information regarding how things actually work in a judge's courtroom. While most of this information is geared toward practicing attorneys, knowing how the judge operates is an excellent way to focus an application or prepare for an interview.
Context (Lexis+)
Context offers analytics on federal judges at all levels, including magistrates and bankruptcy courts, as well as appellate level analytics for judges from all 50 states.
Judicial profiles are organized into three sections: Overview, Analytics, and Related Materials. Overview provides broad background information about the judge's appointment, work, and education history. Analytics details both Motion Outcomes (looking at statistics of Granted, Partially Granted, and Denied motions by type, with links to cases in which motions had such outcomes) and Citation Patterns (which includes the number of times a judge has cited particular opinions, courts, and judges). Related Materials collates all of the cases, pleadings, secondary materials, news, and more that is present in the Lexis database.
The information and analysis provided by Context can be useful for understanding the scope of a judge's workload, motion tendencies, and influences. Context fully replaced Ravel Law in 2019.
Litigation Analytics (Westlaw Edge)
This feature is new with Westlaw Edge, and features litigation analytics for all federal and state courts. Search for a judge by name, and receive a quick snapshot of relevant information, like position, career timeline, contact, motion grants, and case outcomes.
There are multiple tabs on Litigation Analytics beyond Dockets, including Outcomes, Motions, Expert Challenges and Appeals. Each of these tabs include a visualization of data to help you better interpret the information. You can interact with the sub-tabs within the charts to refine your research.
Don't forget to use the Judicial Clerkship Database for actual feedback on judges across the country written by Michigan Law grads.
Call us at 734-764-9324
Text us at 734-329-5606
Email us at askalawlibrarian@umich.edu. Emails are answered by Librarians during standard business hours, Monday-Friday. Patrons may expect a response within 1-2 business days for most emails.
Consult with us. Schedule an appointment to meet with a Reference Librarian.
Visit us at the Information Desk on Sub-1 for immediate in-person assistance. Open 8 am - midnight, Sunday-Thursday, and 8am - 10pm, Friday-Saturday*
The chat service is available to all of our patrons but is designed to meet the legal research needs of U-M students, staff, and faculty.
Chat is monitored from 1-6 pm Monday-Wednesday and 1-5 pm Thursday-Friday on days when class is in session.
*Excluding University holidays and semester breaks--check library hours for more information. The Building and library are available to law school community ONLY after 6 pm, and are closed to all but law school community on home football Saturdays.
