David C. Godbey
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by voice vote, David C. Godbey is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1982. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1957 · age 69
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2002
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Southern Methodist 1978 · Harvard Law School 1982
- Succeeded
- Robert B. Maloney
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Northern District of Texas succeeded Robert B. Maloney | G.W. Bush (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
| Southern Methodist University | B.S., B.S.E.E. | 1978 |
| Harvard Law School | J.D. | 1982 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Godbey was assigned 6,743 district-court cases (1994–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 228 days across 6,086 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 438 of Godbey’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 324 were affirmed, 67 reversed or vacated, and 47 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, Godbey authored 39 published opinions for the court (2003–2011). Most cited: American Realty Trust, Inc. v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. of America (24 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | American Realty Trust, Inc. v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. of America | 362 F. Supp. 2d 744 | 24 |
| 2008 | Biliouris v. Sundance Resources, Inc. | 559 F. Supp. 2d 733 | 20 |
| 2004 | Taubenfeld v. Hotels. Com | 385 F. Supp. 2d 587 | 16 |
| 2006 | United States v. Roush | 452 F. Supp. 2d 676 | 14 |
| 2006 | Hersh v. United States | 347 B.R. 19 | 14 |
| 2010 | Trinity Industries, Inc. v. United States | 691 F. Supp. 2d 688 | 13 |
| 2005 | Shabazz v. Franklin | 380 F. Supp. 2d 793 | 13 |
| 2011 | Cottonwood Financial Ltd. v. Cash Store Financial Services, Inc. | 778 F. Supp. 2d 726 | 12 |
| 2007 | Ahmadi v. Chertoff | 522 F. Supp. 2d 816 | 11 |
| 2007 | Mims v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co. | 521 F. Supp. 2d 568 | 10 |
| 2004 | Positive Software Solutions, Inc. v. New Century Mortgage Corp. | 337 F. Supp. 2d 862 | 10 |
| 2003 | Positive Software Solutions, Inc. v. New Century Mortgage Corp. | 259 F. Supp. 2d 531 | 10 |
| 2003 | Penny v. Orthalliance, Inc. | 255 F. Supp. 2d 579 | 10 |
| 2007 | Congregation of Ezra Sholom v. Blockbuster, Inc. | 504 F. Supp. 2d 151 | 9 |
| 2011 | Janvey v. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Inc. | 793 F. Supp. 2d 825 | 8 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 39 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 David C. Godbey?
- President George W. Bush appointed David C. Godbey to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in 2002.
- Was David C. Godbey appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- David C. Godbey was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was David C. Godbey's confirmation vote?
- David C. Godbey was confirmed by voice vote on August 1, 2002. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is David C. Godbey on?
- David C. Godbey 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
- Wikidata
- 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.
24 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).