 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.Upon graduation from law school, he served as a judicial law clerk for The Honorable Dorothy Wright Nelson at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.Lemley has been named California Lawyer's Attorney of the Year twice (in 2005 and 2015) and received the California State Bar's inaugural IP Vanguard Award.