Allen Joe Fish
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and confirmed by voice vote, Allen Joe Fish is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 1968. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1942 · age 84
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1983
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Chief judge
- Northern District of Texas, 2002 to 2007
- Education
- Yale College 1965 · Yale Law School 1968
- Succeeded
- Patrick Errol Higginbotham
- Succeeded by
- Reed Charles O'Connor
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Northern District of Texas succeeded Patrick Errol Higginbotham chief judge 2002 to 2007 | Reagan (R) | 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
| Yale College | B.A. | 1965 |
| Yale Law School | LL.B. | 1968 |
Before the bench
Professional career before and outside the federal bench, as recorded by the Federal Judicial Center.
| U.S. Army Reserve sergeant | 1968-1974 |
| Private practice, Dallas, Texas | 1968-1980 |
| Judge, Dallas County [Texas] Ninety-Fifth District Court | 1980-1981 |
| Justice, Fifth Court of Civil Appeals of Texas | 1981-1983 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Fish was assigned 9,105 district-court cases (1979–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 173 days across 8,770 closed cases.
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 214 of Fish’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 167 were affirmed, 24 reversed or vacated, and 23 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, Fish authored 138 published opinions for the court (1983–2012). Most cited: Reich v. Priba Corp. (44 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Reich v. Priba Corp. | 890 F. Supp. 586 | 44 |
| 2006 | Tucker v. SAS Institute, Inc. | 462 F. Supp. 2d 715 | 41 |
| 1985 | Smith v. Flagship International | 609 F. Supp. 58 | 30 |
| 2006 | Kennard v. Indianapolis Life Insurance | 420 F. Supp. 2d 601 | 27 |
| 2009 | Mary Kay, Inc. v. Weber | 601 F. Supp. 2d 839 | 24 |
| 2007 | Ryan v. Staff Care, Inc. | 497 F. Supp. 2d 820 | 22 |
| 2002 | International Transactions, Ltd. v. Embotelladora Agral Regionmontana S.A. De C.V. | 277 F. Supp. 2d 654 | 20 |
| 1989 | Lawler v. Guild, Hagen & Clark, Ltd. (In Re Lawler) | 106 B.R. 943 | 20 |
| 2005 | Alvarez v. United Parcel Service Co. | 398 F. Supp. 2d 543 | 19 |
| 2002 | United States v. Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. | 275 F. Supp. 2d 763 | 18 |
| 2004 | Baylor University Medical Center v. Epoch Group, L.C. | 340 F. Supp. 2d 749 | 17 |
| 2000 | Rahr v. Grant Thornton LLP | 142 F. Supp. 2d 793 | 17 |
| 1992 | United States Gypsum Co. v. National Gypsum Co. (In Re National Gypsum Co.) | 145 B.R. 539 | 17 |
| 1991 | Florence v. Frank | 774 F. Supp. 1054 | 16 |
| 2001 | Millennium Restaurants Group, Inc. v. City of Dallas | 181 F. Supp. 2d 659 | 15 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 138 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 Allen Joe Fish?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Allen Joe Fish to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in 1983.
- Was Allen Joe Fish appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Allen Joe Fish was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Allen Joe Fish's confirmation vote?
- Allen Joe Fish was confirmed by voice vote on February 23, 1983. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Allen Joe Fish on?
- Allen Joe Fish is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
43 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Data as of 2026-09-14. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).