Who appointed Alan Neil Bloch?

President Jimmy Carter appointed Alan Neil Bloch to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1979.

Was Alan Neil Bloch appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Alan Neil Bloch was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Alan Neil Bloch's confirmation vote?

Alan Neil Bloch was confirmed by voice vote on October 31, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Western District of Pennsylvania / Appointed 1979 / Served to 2024

Alan Neil Bloch

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, Alan Neil Bloch was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1958. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1932–2024
Appointed by: Jimmy Carter, 1979
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Pennsylvania 1953 · University of Pittsburgh Law 1958
Succeeded: Herbert Peter Sorg
Succeeded by: Joy Flowers Conti

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1979	Western District of Pennsylvania succeeded Herbert Peter Sorg	Carter (D)	Voice vote

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.

Confirmation vote

Voice vote

The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.

Education

University of Pennsylvania	B.S.	1953
University of Pittsburgh School of Law	J.D.	1958

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Bloch was assigned 3,288 district-court cases (1984–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 234 days across 3,286 closed cases.

Social Security19%

Prisoner & habeas17%

Contract12%

Other civil matters12%

Personal-injury torts11%

Civil rights10%

Other19%

Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.

On appeal

Of 79 of Bloch’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 62 were affirmed, 7 reversed or vacated, and 10 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.

In our data, Bloch authored 73 published opinions for the court (1982–2010). Most cited: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. v. Greene (33 citations).

A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Recent & notable rulings

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1983	Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. v. Greene	570 F. Supp. 1483	33
1991	AL Tech Specialty Steel Corp. v. Allegheny International, Inc. (In Re Allegheny International, Inc.)	126 B.R. 919	30
1983	Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. Colony Square Co.	29 B.R. 432	29
1994	Graham Oil Co. v. BP Oil Co.	885 F. Supp. 716	28
1994	Dugan v. Bell Telephone of Pennsylvania	876 F. Supp. 713	26
1990	Jones v. Progressive-Home Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n (In Re Jones)	122 B.R. 246	23
1986	Recchion, Westinghouse Elec. Corp. v. Kirby	637 F. Supp. 1309	20
1989	Stebok v. American General Life & Accident Insurance	715 F. Supp. 711	18
1988	M. Leff Radio Parts, Inc. v. Mattel, Inc.	706 F. Supp. 387	16
1990	Gianakas v. Gianakas (In Re Gianakas)	112 B.R. 737	15
1992	Miller v. Indiana Hospital	814 F. Supp. 1254	14
1987	Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. United States Steel Corp.	671 F. Supp. 351	14
1999	Delta Star, Inc. v. Patton	76 F. Supp. 2d 617	13
1991	In Re Walls & All, Inc.	127 B.R. 115	13
1990	In Re Allegheny International, Inc.	117 B.R. 171	13

Showing the 15 most-cited of 73 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Alan Neil Bloch?: President Jimmy Carter appointed Alan Neil Bloch to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1979.
Was Alan Neil Bloch appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Alan Neil Bloch was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Alan Neil Bloch's confirmation vote?: Alan Neil Bloch was confirmed by voice vote on October 31, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Alan Neil Bloch on?: Alan Neil Bloch was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

44 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).