Donald West VanArtsdalen
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, Donald West VanArtsdalen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from University of Pennsylvania Law School (now Carey Law School) in 1948. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1919–2019
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1970
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Pennsylvania Law School (now Carey Law School) 1948
- Succeeded by
- Robert F. Kelly
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Eastern District of Pennsylvania | 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
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, VanArtsdalen was assigned 1,076 district-court cases (1983–1997). Median time from filing to termination: 200 days across 1,076 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 10 of VanArtsdalen’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 10 were affirmed, 0 reversed or vacated. 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, VanArtsdalen authored 158 published opinions for the court (1971–2000). Most cited: United States v. Kensington Hospital (97 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | United States v. Kensington Hospital | 760 F. Supp. 1120 | 97 |
| 1971 | Benn v. Linden Crane Co. | 326 F. Supp. 995 | 46 |
| 1991 | Baily v. Lewis | 763 F. Supp. 802 | 44 |
| 1996 | Michael Carbone, Inc. v. General Accident Insurance | 937 F. Supp. 413 | 42 |
| 1996 | Applied Bolting Technology Products, Inc. v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. | 942 F. Supp. 1029 | 41 |
| 1985 | Madreperla v. Williard Co. | 606 F. Supp. 874 | 41 |
| 1971 | United States v. Cantor | 328 F. Supp. 561 | 39 |
| 1984 | Chas. Kurz Co. v. Lombardi | 595 F. Supp. 373 | 37 |
| 1983 | Porcellini v. Strassheim Printing Co., Inc. | 578 F. Supp. 605 | 37 |
| 1978 | J. D. Pflaumer, Inc. v. United States Department of Justice | 450 F. Supp. 1125 | 34 |
| 1985 | E.J. Stewart, Inc. v. Aitken Products, Inc. | 607 F. Supp. 883 | 31 |
| 1994 | Verde v. City of Philadelphia | 862 F. Supp. 1329 | 30 |
| 1976 | AAMCO Automatic Transmissions, Inc. v. Tayloe | 407 F. Supp. 430 | 30 |
| 1988 | United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Korman Corp. | 693 F. Supp. 253 | 28 |
| 1987 | Jennings v. Boeing Co. | 660 F. Supp. 796 | 28 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 158 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 West VanArtsdalen?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Donald West VanArtsdalen to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1970.
- Was Donald West VanArtsdalen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Donald West VanArtsdalen was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Donald West VanArtsdalen's confirmation vote?
- Donald West VanArtsdalen was confirmed by voice vote on October 8, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Donald West VanArtsdalen on?
- Donald West VanArtsdalen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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.
48 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).