What We Do

          Lexegesis LLC is a legal consultancy focused exclusively on interpretive issues in high-stakes disputes. We represent clients anywhere in the English-speaking world.

          Winning an argument about interpretation often requires achieving a simplicity in stating your viewpoint that comes only after serious grappling with intricate complexities surrounding the issue. Many otherwise able lawyers face difficulties cutting a path through the thicket of complex interpretive issues. Bogged down, they are unable to state clearly and succinctly why their view is the right one. That can be a fatal flaw.

          Our principals — Akhil Reed Amar, Philip C. Bobbitt, and Bryan A. Garner — have developed international reputations as leading law professors, prolific authors, and thought leaders. Our strength lies in the intellect, imagination, experience, and integrity we bring to disputed matters of interpretation.

          The value we offer is straightforward:

          First, we listen closely to the lawyers who retain us in order to grasp problems quickly.

          Second, we bring unrivaled experience to all angles of legal interpretation, using all available theories — whether the argument is to be based on textualism, purposivism, consequentialism, originalism, or some combination of these.

          Third, our creative approaches to research allow us to marshal proofs that may never occur to most legal researchers. The vast resources at our Dallas headquarters include the largest privately held textualist library anywhere in the world: historical and current English-language dictionaries (some 4,500 volumes), English grammars (1,300 volumes), punctuation books (275 volumes), and texts on contractual and legislative drafting (350 volumes), as well as thousands of allied books in a library containing over 38,000 volumes. This collection allows us to draw on pivotal scholarly resources unavailable to Internet researchers.

          Fourth, we’re reliable. Once we accept a case, we work diligently to make deadlines with work product of the highest order.

          Finally, we aren’t hired guns. We won’t take just any case. We write reports and briefs only for positions we believe in — whether or not our stance is to be made public. Our protocol is to (1) run a conflicts check; (2) ask for a neutral statement of the problem, setting forth the parties’ positions without disclosing which side the prospective client favors; (3) conduct preliminary research and analysis, formulating an initial opinion; and (4) share our preliminary conclusions orally with the prospective client before committing anything to writing.

          Most of our work is done behind the scenes. We do not disclose our clients' identities or our work unless the client decides to make such information public. Our fees can be structured as either project rates or hourly rates.

          Our gatekeeper — general counsel Karolyne H. Cheng — ensures prospective clients’ anonymity and prepares all documents related to engaging Lexegesis. Through her, clients can request that one or another of our principals take the lead on a given matter. Otherwise, that decision will be made internally at Lexegesis.

          With Lexegesis, you have every angle covered by a team of respected intellects who will analyze every facet of your interpretive problem. Professor Garner is the most heavily cited textualist in the United States. Professor Bobbitt innovated the standard framework for modes of constitutional analysis, and his approach is used worldwide; he is a leading purposivist. In a crowded field, Professor Amar is among the most highly regarded constitutional analysts in the world; he is not only a textualist but also a consequentialist.

          Although we generally work as consultants, two of our principals are licensed practitioners: Garner (New York, Texas, all the federal circuits, and U.S. Supreme Court) and Bobbitt (Texas and U.S. Supreme Court). We have been admitted pro hac vice in various jurisdictions. For somewhat augmented fees, we will sign on as lawyers when counsel so desires and we agree to do so.

          As but one example, in 2019 Professor Garner won a unanimous victory in an important defamation lawsuit before the Texas Supreme Court — in a case involving statutory construction. His oral argument can be seen here (beginning around 18:30 into the recording). Both Garner and Bobbitt are available for this type of work in an appropriate case.

          When the highest authorities are needed for a legal opinion, an expert report, an undisclosed consulting expert, or cocounsel on litigation strategies, contact Lexegesis today.