LEXIS

Law & Legal abbreviation · Legal Citation

LEXIS
Stands forLexis citation
CategoriesLaw & Legal

LEXIS stands for Lexis citation, a legal citation abbreviation.

Database citation format for decisions available on the LexisNexis service, giving the year, a database name and a document number, as in 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12345. It is used for opinions that do not appear in a printed reporter, especially unpublished trial-court rulings.

Example: See Smith v. Jones, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 23456, at *7 (2d Cir. Aug. 5, 2021).

Usage notes

Common database segments include "U.S. Dist. LEXIS" and "U.S. App. LEXIS", plus state-specific ones. The LEXIS online legal research service launched in 1973. Pinpoint pages use asterisks, as in Westlaw citations. Because the same opinion has different WL and LEXIS numbers, briefs sometimes give both.

More legal citation abbreviations

  • I.R.C. – Internal Revenue Code
  • Id. – Idem (the same)
  • infra – Infra (below)
  • L. Ed. – Lawyers' Edition
  • L. Rev. – Law Review
  • L.J. – Law Journal
  • M.J. – Military Justice Reporter
  • mem. – Memorandum decision
  • n. – Note
  • N.E.3d – North Eastern Reporter, Third Series
  • N.W.2d – North Western Reporter, Second Series
  • N.Y.3d – New York Reports, Third Series

See all 87 legal citation abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.