David M. Lawson
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 2000 and confirmed by voice vote, David M. Lawson is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 1976. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1951 · age 75
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 2000
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Notre Dame 1973 · Wayne State Law School 1976
- Succeeded
- Avern Levin Cohn
- Succeeded by
- Frances Kay Behm
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Eastern District of Michigan succeeded Avern Levin Cohn | Clinton (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 Notre Dame | B.A. | 1973 |
| Wayne State University Law School | J.D. | 1976 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Lawson was assigned 4,616 district-court cases (1990–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 223 days across 4,342 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 319 of Lawson’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 248 were affirmed, 38 reversed or vacated, and 33 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, Lawson authored 353 published opinions for the court (2000–2011). Most cited: Mohn v. Bock (83 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Mohn v. Bock | 208 F. Supp. 2d 796 | 83 |
| 2004 | Brown v. Scott | 329 F. Supp. 2d 905 | 66 |
| 2002 | Michigan Department of Treasury v. Michalec | 181 F. Supp. 2d 731 | 65 |
| 2002 | Sitto v. Bock | 207 F. Supp. 2d 668 | 64 |
| 2003 | Smith Ex Rel. Smith v. MOUNT PLEASANT PUBLIC SCHOOLS | 298 F. Supp. 2d 636 | 48 |
| 2005 | Wysong Corp. v. M.I. Industries | 412 F. Supp. 2d 612 | 43 |
| 2009 | Galka v. Caruso | 599 F. Supp. 2d 854 | 42 |
| 2007 | Lutz v. Hemingway | 476 F. Supp. 2d 715 | 41 |
| 2006 | McPhail v. Renico | 412 F. Supp. 2d 647 | 39 |
| 2001 | Dekoven v. Bell | 140 F. Supp. 2d 748 | 38 |
| 2003 | Clemons v. Young | 240 F. Supp. 2d 639 | 35 |
| 2001 | Goodell v. Anthony | 157 F. Supp. 2d 796 | 35 |
| 2011 | Oceanfirst Bank v. Hartford Fire Insurance | 794 F. Supp. 2d 752 | 31 |
| 2003 | Zuzula v. ABB POWER T & D CO., INC. | 267 F. Supp. 2d 703 | 31 |
| 2008 | Anglers of the Au Sable v. United States Forest Service | 565 F. Supp. 2d 812 | 30 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 353 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 M. Lawson?
- President William J. Clinton appointed David M. Lawson to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 2000.
- Was David M. Lawson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- David M. Lawson was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was David M. Lawson's confirmation vote?
- David M. Lawson was confirmed by voice vote on May 24, 2000. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is David M. Lawson on?
- David M. Lawson is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (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.
26 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).