Dean Whipple
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and confirmed by voice vote, Dean Whipple is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He earned a law degree from University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 1965. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1938 · age 88
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1987
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Drury College 1961 · University of Missouri-Kansas City Law 1965
- Succeeded
- Ross Thompson Roberts
- Succeeded by
- David Gregory Kays
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Western District of Missouri succeeded Ross Thompson Roberts | 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
| Drury College | A.B. | 1961 |
| University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law | J.D. | 1965 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Whipple was assigned 6,892 district-court cases (1977–2018). Median time from filing to termination: 240 days across 6,890 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 371 of Whipple’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 330 were affirmed, 22 reversed or vacated, and 19 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, Whipple authored 80 published opinions for the court (1988–2010). Most cited: O'Bannon Ex Rel. O'Bannon v. Union Pacific Railroad (53 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | O'Bannon Ex Rel. O'Bannon v. Union Pacific Railroad | 960 F. Supp. 1411 | 53 |
| 1989 | LaHue v. General Motors Corp. | 716 F. Supp. 407 | 27 |
| 1995 | Stillwell v. Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissioners | 872 F. Supp. 682 | 23 |
| 1991 | Fergason v. Sullivan | 771 F. Supp. 1008 | 23 |
| 1999 | Baker v. Stone County, Mo. | 41 F. Supp. 2d 965 | 21 |
| 1989 | Block v. Texas Commerce Bank National Ass'n (In Re Midwestern Companies, Inc.) | 102 B.R. 169 | 21 |
| 1990 | Tinsley v. Kemp | 750 F. Supp. 1001 | 19 |
| 1996 | Johnson v. Grob | 928 F. Supp. 889 | 18 |
| 1994 | Owen v. Crop Hail Management | 841 F. Supp. 297 | 17 |
| 1991 | Coonce v. Aetna Life Insurance | 777 F. Supp. 759 | 17 |
| 1991 | Riden v. ICI Americas, Inc. | 763 F. Supp. 1500 | 16 |
| 1989 | Boatmen's First Nat. Bank of Kansas City v. United States | 723 F. Supp. 163 | 14 |
| 2001 | Fletcher v. Conoco Pipe Line Co. | 129 F. Supp. 2d 1255 | 12 |
| 1999 | Tovey v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America | 42 F. Supp. 2d 919 | 12 |
| 1988 | Boatmen's First National Bank of Kansas City v. United States | 705 F. Supp. 1407 | 12 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 80 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 Dean Whipple?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Dean Whipple to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in 1987.
- Was Dean Whipple appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Dean Whipple was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Dean Whipple's confirmation vote?
- Dean Whipple was confirmed by voice vote on December 8, 1987. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Dean Whipple on?
- Dean Whipple is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Dean Whipple (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.
38 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).