Who appointed Douglas Woodruff Hillman?

President Jimmy Carter appointed Douglas Woodruff Hillman to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in 1979.

Was Douglas Woodruff Hillman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Douglas Woodruff Hillman was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Douglas Woodruff Hillman's confirmation vote?

Douglas Woodruff Hillman was confirmed by voice vote on September 25, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Western District of Michigan / Appointed 1979 / Served to 2002

Douglas Woodruff Hillman

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, Douglas Woodruff Hillman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1948. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1922–2007
Appointed by: Jimmy Carter, 1979
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Michigan 1946 · University of Michigan Law School 1948
Succeeded by: David William McKeague

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1979	Western District of Michigan	Carter (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 Michigan	A.B.	1946
University of Michigan Law School	LL.B.	1948

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Hillman was assigned 1,751 district-court cases (1984–2002). Median time from filing to termination: 220 days across 1,751 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas46%

Civil rights11%

Contract10%

Labor & ERISA8%

Social Security7%

Personal-injury torts6%

Other12%

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, Hillman authored 184 published opinions for the court (1979–2002). Most cited: Platsis v. EF Hutton & Co. Inc. (56 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1986	Platsis v. EF Hutton & Co. Inc.	642 F. Supp. 1277	56
1980	An-Ti Chai v. Michigan Technological University	493 F. Supp. 1137	45
1989	CPC International, Inc. v. Aerojet-General Corp.	731 F. Supp. 783	43
1983	Old Orchard Investment Co. v. A.D.I. Distributors, Inc. (In Re Old Orchard Investment Co.)	31 B.R. 599	40
2000	Lozada v. Dale Baker Oldsmobile, Inc.	91 F. Supp. 2d 1087	39
1990	Waterman Ex Rel. Waterman v. Marquette-Alger Intermediate School District	739 F. Supp. 361	39
1991	CPC International, Inc. v. Aerojet-General Corp.	777 F. Supp. 549	38
1987	United States v. Northernaire Plating Co.	670 F. Supp. 742	38
1980	United States v. DeBacker	493 F. Supp. 1078	37
1997	Wazeter v. Michigan National Bank (In Re Wazeter)	209 B.R. 222	36
1992	Ballan v. Upjohn Co.	814 F. Supp. 1375	36
1991	CPC International, Inc. v. Aerojet-General Corp.	759 F. Supp. 1269	33
1997	Ameriwood Industries International Corp. v. Arthur Andersen & Co.	961 F. Supp. 1078	32
1988	United States v. Northernaire Plating Co.	685 F. Supp. 1410	31
1991	Eckford-El v. Toombs	760 F. Supp. 1267	29

Showing the 15 most-cited of 184 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 Douglas Woodruff Hillman?: President Jimmy Carter appointed Douglas Woodruff Hillman to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in 1979.
Was Douglas Woodruff Hillman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Douglas Woodruff Hillman was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Douglas Woodruff Hillman's confirmation vote?: Douglas Woodruff Hillman was confirmed by voice vote on September 25, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Douglas Woodruff Hillman on?: Douglas Woodruff Hillman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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23 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).