Donald W. Molloy
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1996 and confirmed by voice vote, Donald W. Molloy is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. He earned a law degree from University of Montana School of Law in 1976. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1946 · age 80
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1996
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Montana 1968 · University of Montana Law 1976
- Succeeded
- Paul Gerhart Hatfield
- Succeeded by
- Dana Lewis Christensen
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | District of Montana succeeded Paul Gerhart Hatfield | Clinton (D) | 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 Montana | B.A. | 1968 |
| University of Montana School of Law | J.D. | 1976 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Molloy was assigned 3,608 district-court cases (1988–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 245 days across 3,448 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 517 of Molloy’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 423 were affirmed, 71 reversed or vacated, and 23 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, Molloy authored 138 published opinions for the court (1997–2012). Most cited: United States v. Waybright (30 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | United States v. Waybright | 561 F. Supp. 2d 1154 | 30 |
| 2004 | Montana Wilderness Ass'n v. Fry | 310 F. Supp. 2d 1127 | 27 |
| 2010 | Defenders of Wildlife v. Salazar | 729 F. Supp. 2d 1207 | 24 |
| 1999 | Montana Fair Housing, Inc. v. American Capital Development, Inc. | 81 F. Supp. 2d 1057 | 18 |
| 1997 | United States v. Hansen | 955 F. Supp. 1225 | 18 |
| 2008 | Wildlands CPR v. United States Forest Service | 558 F. Supp. 2d 1096 | 17 |
| 2004 | Oberson v. United States | 311 F. Supp. 2d 917 | 17 |
| 1999 | Brumbaugh v. Sandoz Pharmaceutical Corp. | 77 F. Supp. 2d 1153 | 16 |
| 1998 | Chapman v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. | 7 F. Supp. 2d 1123 | 16 |
| 2012 | Blixseth v. Brown | 470 B.R. 562 | 15 |
| 2006 | Nielsen v. TIG Insurance | 442 F. Supp. 2d 972 | 13 |
| 2002 | Bear Medicine v. United States | 192 F. Supp. 2d 1053 | 13 |
| 2001 | Childress v. Darby Lumber, Inc. | 126 F. Supp. 2d 1310 | 13 |
| 1999 | Carlson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 76 F. Supp. 2d 1069 | 13 |
| 2003 | United States v. W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. | 280 F. Supp. 2d 1149 | 12 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 138 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 W. Molloy?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Donald W. Molloy to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in 1996.
- Was Donald W. Molloy appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Donald W. Molloy was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Donald W. Molloy's confirmation vote?
- Donald W. Molloy was confirmed by voice vote on July 18, 1996. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Donald W. Molloy on?
- Donald W. Molloy is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the District of Montana (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.
30 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).