Donald Ellsworth Walter
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Donald Ellsworth Walter is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. He earned a law degree from Louisiana State University Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) in 1964. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1936 · age 90
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1985
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Louisiana State 1961 · Louisiana State Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) 1964
- Succeeded by
- S. Maurice Hicks Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Western District of Louisiana | 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
| Louisiana State University | B.A. | 1961 |
| Louisiana State University Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) | J.D. | 1964 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Walter was assigned 9,352 district-court cases (1982–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 273 days across 9,345 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 152 of Walter’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 110 were affirmed, 26 reversed or vacated, and 16 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, Walter authored 21 published opinions for the court (1988–2011). Most cited: Grenier v. Medical Engineering Corp. (22 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Grenier v. Medical Engineering Corp. | 99 F. Supp. 2d 759 | 22 |
| 2000 | Baker v. First American National Bank | 111 F. Supp. 2d 799 | 13 |
| 1999 | Brashears v. Apfel | 73 F. Supp. 2d 648 | 11 |
| 1994 | Solito v. United States | 172 B.R. 837 | 8 |
| 1995 | Giddens v. City of Shreveport | 901 F. Supp. 1170 | 6 |
| 2001 | Petro-Hunt L.L.C. v. United States | 179 F. Supp. 2d 669 | 5 |
| 2000 | Whitesides v. Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc. | 125 F. Supp. 2d 807 | 5 |
| 2008 | Cryer v. United States | 554 F. Supp. 2d 642 | 3 |
| 2003 | National Union Fire Insurance v. Hibernia National Bank | 258 F. Supp. 2d 490 | 3 |
| 1999 | Dogwood Grocery, Inc. v. South Carolina Insurance | 49 F. Supp. 2d 511 | 3 |
| 1996 | Hunt v. Steve Dement Bail Bonds, Inc. | 914 F. Supp. 1390 | 3 |
| 2008 | Griffin v. Georgia Gulf Lake Charles, LLC | 562 F. Supp. 2d 775 | 2 |
| 2000 | Whitesides v. Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc. | 125 F. Supp. 2d 813 | 2 |
| 1999 | Poynter v. United States | 55 F. Supp. 2d 558 | 2 |
| 1988 | Coe v. L & L SANDBLASTING, INC. | 707 F. Supp. 874 | 2 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 21 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 Ellsworth Walter?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Donald Ellsworth Walter to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in 1985.
- Was Donald Ellsworth Walter appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Donald Ellsworth Walter was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Donald Ellsworth Walter's confirmation vote?
- Donald Ellsworth Walter was confirmed by voice vote on July 10, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Donald Ellsworth Walter on?
- Donald Ellsworth Walter is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
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.
41 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).