David Hittner
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and confirmed by voice vote, David Hittner is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from New York University School of Law in 1964. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1939 · age 87
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1986
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- New York 1961 · New York Law 1964
- Succeeded
- George Edward Cire
- Succeeded by
- Micaela Alvarez
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Southern District of Texas succeeded George Edward Cire | 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
| New York University | B.S. | 1961 |
| New York University School of Law | J.D. | 1964 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Hittner was assigned 10,496 district-court cases (1976–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 198 days across 10,070 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 484 of Hittner’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 367 were affirmed, 56 reversed or vacated, and 61 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, Hittner authored 139 published opinions for the court (1986–2011). Most cited: Pebble Beach Co. v. Tour 18 I, Ltd. (66 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Pebble Beach Co. v. Tour 18 I, Ltd. | 942 F. Supp. 1513 | 66 |
| 1997 | Chalifoux Ex Rel. Chalifoux v. New Caney Independent School District | 976 F. Supp. 659 | 34 |
| 1989 | Fermata International Melodies, Inc. v. Champions Golf Club, Inc. | 712 F. Supp. 1257 | 29 |
| 1989 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Norwood | 726 F. Supp. 1073 | 28 |
| 2008 | Dominguez v. Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. | 530 F. Supp. 2d 902 | 26 |
| 1990 | 909 Corp. v. Village of Bolingbrook Police Pension Fund | 741 F. Supp. 1290 | 25 |
| 1990 | Igloo Products Corp. v. Mounties, Inc. | 735 F. Supp. 214 | 24 |
| 1989 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Taylor | 727 F. Supp. 326 | 24 |
| 2002 | ICM Notes, Ltd. v. Andrews & Kurth, L.L.P. | 278 B.R. 117 | 21 |
| 1994 | Lozano v. GPE CONTROLS | 859 F. Supp. 1036 | 21 |
| 1995 | Westchester Fire Insurance v. Heddington Insurance | 883 F. Supp. 158 | 17 |
| 1991 | Finch v. Finch (In Re Finch) | 130 B.R. 753 | 15 |
| 1986 | Willy v. Coastal Corp. | 647 F. Supp. 116 | 15 |
| 2006 | Van Driessche v. Ohio-Esezeoboh | 466 F. Supp. 2d 828 | 14 |
| 1994 | Moore v. Morales | 843 F. Supp. 1124 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 139 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 Hittner?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed David Hittner to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in 1986.
- Was David Hittner appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- David Hittner was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was David Hittner's confirmation vote?
- David Hittner was confirmed by voice vote on June 6, 1986. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is David Hittner on?
- David Hittner is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
40 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).