David Lynn Russell
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, David Lynn Russell is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. He earned a law degree from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1965. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1942 · age 84
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Oklahoma Baptist 1963 · University of Oklahoma College of Law 1965
- Succeeded
- Frederick Alvin Daugherty
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Eastern District of Oklahoma succeeded Frederick Alvin Daugherty | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
| 1981 | Northern District of Oklahoma succeeded Frederick Alvin Daugherty | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
| 1981 | Western District of Oklahoma succeeded Frederick Alvin Daugherty | 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
| Oklahoma Baptist University | B.S. | 1963 |
| University of Oklahoma College of Law | J.D. | 1965 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Russell was assigned 8,088 district-court cases (1984–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 208 days across 7,512 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 314 of Russell’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 282 were affirmed, 24 reversed or vacated, and 8 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, Russell authored 90 published opinions for the court (1982–2011). Most cited: Gary v. American Casualty Co. of Reading, Pa. (27 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Gary v. American Casualty Co. of Reading, Pa. | 753 F. Supp. 1547 | 27 |
| 1989 | Sabine Corp. v. ONG Western, Inc. | 725 F. Supp. 1157 | 22 |
| 1993 | Resolution Trust Corp. v. Conner | 817 F. Supp. 98 | 19 |
| 1996 | Graves v. McElderry | 946 F. Supp. 1569 | 17 |
| 1992 | Oklahoma Nursing Home Ass'n v. Demps | 792 F. Supp. 721 | 17 |
| 1985 | Northern Trust Co. v. Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. | 619 F. Supp. 1340 | 17 |
| 1983 | Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. v. Federal Deposit Insurance | 554 F. Supp. 251 | 15 |
| 1997 | Roberts Ranch Co. v. Exxon Corp. | 43 F. Supp. 2d 1252 | 14 |
| 1985 | McCullough v. Leede Oil & Gas, Inc. | 617 F. Supp. 384 | 14 |
| 1984 | Furry v. First National Monetary Corp. | 602 F. Supp. 6 | 14 |
| 1990 | United States Ex Rel. Farmers Home Administration v. Evatt (In Re Evatt) | 112 B.R. 417 | 13 |
| 1985 | Seattle-First National Bank v. Federal Deposit Insurance | 619 F. Supp. 1351 | 12 |
| 1987 | Eastwood v. National Bank of Commerce, Altus, Okl. | 673 F. Supp. 1068 | 11 |
| 1985 | Duckett v. Allstate Insurance | 606 F. Supp. 728 | 11 |
| 2007 | Linville v. Barrows | 489 F. Supp. 2d 1278 | 10 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 90 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 Lynn Russell?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed David Lynn Russell to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in 1981.
- Was David Lynn Russell appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- David Lynn Russell was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was David Lynn Russell's confirmation vote?
- David Lynn Russell was confirmed by voice vote on December 16, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is David Lynn Russell on?
- David Lynn Russell is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
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.
44 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).