[2][8] Before his academic career, Lemley practiced law with the firms of Brown and Bain as well as Fish and Richardson.
[3] Lemley, who had represented Meta Platforms in a 2023 AI copyright case, dropped the company as a client in January 2025, accusing CEO Mark Zuckerberg of falling into a "descent into toxic masculinity and Neo-Nazi madness.
"[9] Lemley is one of the founders of Lex Machina, a company that provides data analytics involving IP and antitrust litigation to law firms, universities, courts, and policymakers.
He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California Berkeley School of Law (or Boalt Hall School of Law) in 1991, where he graduated first in his class (winning the Thelen Marrin Prize for Academic Achievement given to the top graduate) and was elected into the Order of the Coif.
[14] Lemley is the author of eleven books and over 200 articles, including the two-volume treatise IP and Antirust.