Donald John Lee
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and confirmed by voice vote, Donald John Lee was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in 1954. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1927–2011
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1990
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Pittsburgh 1950 · Duquesne Law 1954
- Succeeded
- Hubert Irving Teitelbaum
- Succeeded by
- David S. Cercone
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Western District of Pennsylvania succeeded Hubert Irving Teitelbaum | G.H.W. Bush (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
| University of Pittsburgh | A.B. | 1950 |
| Duquesne University School of Law | LL.B. | 1954 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Lee was assigned 2,745 district-court cases (1986–2002). Median time from filing to termination: 246 days across 2,744 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, Lee authored 71 published opinions for the court (1990–2003). Most cited: Soldo v. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp. (60 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Soldo v. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp. | 244 F. Supp. 2d 434 | 60 |
| 1990 | Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. v. Intersteel, Inc. | 758 F. Supp. 1054 | 30 |
| 1994 | United States v. Conley | 859 F. Supp. 830 | 20 |
| 1999 | In Re Bankruptcy Appeal of Allegheny Health, Education & Research Foundation | 252 B.R. 309 | 19 |
| 1993 | Radeschi v. Pennsylvania | 846 F. Supp. 416 | 19 |
| 1991 | Perfect Plastics Industries, Inc. v. Cars & Concepts, Inc. | 758 F. Supp. 1080 | 18 |
| 1995 | In Re Chambers Development Securities Litigation | 912 F. Supp. 822 | 16 |
| 1995 | In Re Chambers Development Securities Litigation | 912 F. Supp. 852 | 15 |
| 1992 | JC PENNEY COMPANY v. Giant Eagle, Inc. | 813 F. Supp. 360 | 15 |
| 1991 | United States v. MacFarlane | 759 F. Supp. 1163 | 15 |
| 2001 | Patterson v. Armstrong County Children and Youth Services | 141 F. Supp. 2d 512 | 14 |
| 1994 | United States v. Conley | 856 F. Supp. 1010 | 14 |
| 1996 | Stilley v. University of Pittsburgh of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education | 968 F. Supp. 252 | 13 |
| 1994 | United States v. Conley | 859 F. Supp. 909 | 13 |
| 1993 | United States v. Conley | 826 F. Supp. 1536 | 13 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 71 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 Donald John Lee?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed Donald John Lee to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1990.
- Was Donald John Lee appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Donald John Lee was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Donald John Lee's confirmation vote?
- Donald John Lee was confirmed by voice vote on March 9, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Donald John Lee on?
- Donald John Lee was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (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.
21 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).