Dennis Raymond Knapp
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, Dennis Raymond Knapp was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1940. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1912–1998
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1970
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- New River State College (now West Virginia Institute of Technology) 1932 · West Virginia College of Law 1940
- Succeeded by
- Elizabeth Virginia Hallanan
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Southern District of West Virginia | Nixon (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 River State College (now West Virginia Institute of Technology) | A.B. | 1932 |
| West Virginia University | M.A. | 1934 |
| West Virginia University College of Law | LL.B. | 1940 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Knapp was assigned 1,249 district-court cases (1971–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 0 days across 1,247 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.
In our data, Knapp authored 38 published opinions for the court (1971–1997). Most cited: Vencill v. Continental Casualty Co. (23 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Vencill v. Continental Casualty Co. | 433 F. Supp. 1371 | 23 |
| 1972 | Lawhorn v. Lawhorn | 351 F. Supp. 1399 | 20 |
| 1981 | Adkins v. Bordenkircher | 517 F. Supp. 390 | 18 |
| 1971 | McClung v. Ford Motor Company | 333 F. Supp. 17 | 18 |
| 1977 | E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. v. Finklea | 442 F. Supp. 821 | 13 |
| 1974 | Johnson v. Weinberger | 389 F. Supp. 1296 | 11 |
| 1978 | Capili v. Shott | 487 F. Supp. 710 | 8 |
| 1975 | Weaver v. Weinberger | 392 F. Supp. 721 | 8 |
| 1971 | Whittington v. Eli Lilly and Company | 333 F. Supp. 98 | 8 |
| 1979 | Bostic v. Harris | 484 F. Supp. 686 | 6 |
| 1977 | State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Milam | 438 F. Supp. 227 | 6 |
| 1987 | Donovan v. McKee | 669 F. Supp. 138 | 5 |
| 1979 | Brown v. Neagle | 486 F. Supp. 364 | 5 |
| 1974 | England v. Weinberger | 387 F. Supp. 343 | 5 |
| 1997 | Hoover v. West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources | 984 F. Supp. 978 | 4 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 38 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 Dennis Raymond Knapp?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Dennis Raymond Knapp to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 1970.
- Was Dennis Raymond Knapp appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Dennis Raymond Knapp was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Dennis Raymond Knapp's confirmation vote?
- Dennis Raymond Knapp was confirmed by voice vote on December 16, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Dennis Raymond Knapp on?
- Dennis Raymond Knapp was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
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
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28 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).