David Sam
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, David Sam is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. He earned a law degree from University of Utah College of Law (now S.J. Quinney College of Law) in 1960. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1933 · age 93
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1985
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Brigham Young 1957 · University of Utah College of Law (now S.J. Quinney College of Law) 1960
- Succeeded
- Aldon Junior Anderson
- Succeeded by
- Paul G. Cassell
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | District of Utah succeeded Aldon Junior Anderson | 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
| Brigham Young University | B.S. | 1957 |
| University of Utah College of Law (now S.J. Quinney College of Law) | J.D. | 1960 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Sam was assigned 3,352 district-court cases (1983–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 309 days across 3,330 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 50 of Sam’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 40 were affirmed, 5 reversed or vacated, and 5 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, Sam authored 120 published opinions for the court (1986–2010). Most cited: Application of Ponath (47 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Application of Ponath | 829 F. Supp. 363 | 47 |
| 1994 | Parkinson v. Phonex Corp. | 857 F. Supp. 1474 | 22 |
| 1991 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Canfield | 763 F. Supp. 533 | 22 |
| 1995 | Jarvis v. FHP of Utah, Inc. | 874 F. Supp. 1253 | 20 |
| 1998 | Celli v. Shoell | 995 F. Supp. 1337 | 15 |
| 1997 | Allred v. Solaray, Inc. | 971 F. Supp. 1394 | 15 |
| 1987 | Bradford v. Moench | 670 F. Supp. 920 | 15 |
| 1998 | Patriot Systems, Inc. v. C-Cubed Corp. | 21 F. Supp. 2d 1318 | 13 |
| 1991 | Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) v. Skywest Airlines, Inc. | 762 F. Supp. 320 | 13 |
| 1994 | Hemphill v. Unisys Corp. | 855 F. Supp. 1225 | 12 |
| 1988 | Chandler v. United States | 687 F. Supp. 1515 | 12 |
| 1986 | Marker International v. deBruler | 635 F. Supp. 986 | 12 |
| 1990 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Paul | 735 F. Supp. 375 | 11 |
| 1989 | Utah Power & Light Co. v. Federal Insurance | 711 F. Supp. 1544 | 11 |
| 1988 | Termunde v. Cook | 684 F. Supp. 255 | 11 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 120 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 Sam?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed David Sam to the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah in 1985.
- Was David Sam appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- David Sam was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was David Sam's confirmation vote?
- David Sam was confirmed by voice vote on October 16, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is David Sam on?
- David Sam is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.
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.
40 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).