Fern M. Smith
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, Fern M. Smith was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She earned a law degree from Stanford Law School in 1975. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1933 · age 93
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1988
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Stanford 1972 · Stanford Law School 1975
- Succeeded
- Samuel Conti
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Northern District of California succeeded Samuel Conti | 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
| Foothill Community College | A.A. | 1970 |
| Stanford University | B.A. | 1972 |
| Stanford Law School | J.D. | 1975 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Smith was assigned 3,523 district-court cases (1983–2005). Median time from filing to termination: 188 days across 3,523 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.
In our data, Smith authored 69 published opinions for the court (1971–2005). Most cited: In Re Silicon Graphics, Inc. Securities Litigation (96 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | In Re Silicon Graphics, Inc. Securities Litigation | 970 F. Supp. 746 | 96 |
| 1994 | Aikins v. St. Helena Hospital | 843 F. Supp. 1329 | 57 |
| 1994 | In Re Gupta Corp. Securities Litigation | 900 F. Supp. 1217 | 46 |
| 1993 | Baugh v. CBS, INC. | 828 F. Supp. 745 | 32 |
| 1971 | Maricopa County v. American Petrofina, Inc. | 322 F. Supp. 467 | 30 |
| 1992 | In Re Software Toolworks, Inc. Securities Litigation | 789 F. Supp. 1489 | 21 |
| 1989 | Burns v. International Insurance | 709 F. Supp. 187 | 19 |
| 1992 | Cardona v. OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST., CAL. | 785 F. Supp. 837 | 16 |
| 1999 | Danh v. Demore | 59 F. Supp. 2d 994 | 15 |
| 1992 | Essex Insurance v. Yi | 795 F. Supp. 319 | 15 |
| 1971 | Cowles Communications, Inc. v. Department of Justice | 325 F. Supp. 726 | 15 |
| 1991 | Boyle v. MTV Networks, Inc. | 766 F. Supp. 809 | 14 |
| 1990 | TBG, Inc. v. Commercial Union Insurance | 806 F. Supp. 1444 | 14 |
| 1990 | Wiegmann & Rose International Corp. v. NL Industries | 735 F. Supp. 957 | 14 |
| 1993 | Board of Tr. of Laborers Pension Tr. v. Levingston | 816 F. Supp. 1496 | 13 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 69 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 Fern M. Smith?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Fern M. Smith to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1988.
- Was Fern M. Smith appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Fern M. Smith was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Fern M. Smith's confirmation vote?
- Fern M. Smith was confirmed by voice vote on July 26, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Fern M. Smith on?
- Fern M. Smith was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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.
16 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).