Duross Fitzpatrick
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Duross Fitzpatrick was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. He earned a law degree from University of Georgia School of Law in 1966. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1934–2008
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1985
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Georgia 1961 · University of Georgia Law 1966
- Succeeded by
- C. Ashley Royal
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Middle District of Georgia | 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
| University of Georgia | B.S.F. | 1961 |
| University of Georgia School of Law | LL.B. | 1966 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Fitzpatrick was assigned 3,988 district-court cases (1971–2006). Median time from filing to termination: 290 days across 3,986 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 30 of Fitzpatrick’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 27 were affirmed, 1 reversed or vacated, and 2 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, Fitzpatrick authored 129 published opinions for the court (1986–2005). Most cited: Shields v. Outboard Marine Corp. (26 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | Shields v. Outboard Marine Corp. | 776 F. Supp. 1579 | 26 |
| 1993 | Brewer v. Purvis | 816 F. Supp. 1560 | 23 |
| 1990 | Spires v. Ben Hill County | 745 F. Supp. 690 | 19 |
| 1987 | Ring Ex Rel. Copelan v. Crisp County Hospital Authority | 652 F. Supp. 477 | 17 |
| 1992 | Freeman v. United Cities Propane Gas of Georgia, Inc. | 807 F. Supp. 1533 | 16 |
| 2002 | Educational Credit Management Corp. v. Carter | 279 B.R. 872 | 14 |
| 1995 | Williams v. Carrier Corp. | 889 F. Supp. 1528 | 14 |
| 1987 | Smith v. Kemp | 664 F. Supp. 500 | 14 |
| 1989 | Salsbury Laboratories, Inc. v. Merieux Laboratories, Inc. | 735 F. Supp. 1555 | 13 |
| 1986 | Walker Ex Rel. Walker v. Merck & Co. | 648 F. Supp. 931 | 13 |
| 2004 | Holmes v. Grubman | 315 F. Supp. 2d 1376 | 12 |
| 1992 | Thompson v. Federal Express Corp. | 809 F. Supp. 950 | 12 |
| 1992 | Martin v. South Carolina Bank | 811 F. Supp. 679 | 12 |
| 1992 | CMAX/Cleveland, Inc. v. UCR, Inc. | 804 F. Supp. 337 | 12 |
| 1988 | Buffington v. General Time Corp. | 677 F. Supp. 1186 | 12 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 129 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 Duross Fitzpatrick?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Duross Fitzpatrick to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in 1985.
- Was Duross Fitzpatrick appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Duross Fitzpatrick was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Duross Fitzpatrick's confirmation vote?
- Duross Fitzpatrick was confirmed by voice vote on December 16, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Duross Fitzpatrick on?
- Duross Fitzpatrick was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: University of Georgia. School of Law. (CC0), 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.
22 years on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).