Fernando J. Gaitan Jr.
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and confirmed by voice vote, Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He earned a law degree from University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 1974. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1948 · age 78
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1991
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Pittsburg State, Kansas 1970 · University of Missouri-Kansas City Law 1974
- Succeeded
- Russell Gentry Clark
- Succeeded by
- Stephen Rogers Bough
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Western District of Missouri succeeded Russell Gentry Clark | G.H.W. Bush (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
| Pittsburg State University, Kansas | B.S. | 1970 |
| University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law | J.D. | 1974 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Gaitan was assigned 6,892 district-court cases (1984–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 208 days across 6,575 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 376 of Gaitan’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 332 were affirmed, 27 reversed or vacated, and 17 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, Gaitan authored 37 published opinions for the court (1991–2010). Most cited: Davis v. Novastar Mortgage, Inc. (47 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Davis v. Novastar Mortgage, Inc. | 408 F. Supp. 2d 811 | 47 |
| 1992 | FCC National Bank v. Dobbins | 151 B.R. 509 | 19 |
| 2010 | Teter v. Glass Onion, Inc. | 723 F. Supp. 2d 1138 | 13 |
| 2008 | Robertson v. LTS Management Services LLC. | 642 F. Supp. 2d 922 | 12 |
| 1996 | Bullard v. American Airlines, Inc. | 929 F. Supp. 1284 | 12 |
| 1991 | United States v. Pool and Canfield, Inc. | 778 F. Supp. 1088 | 11 |
| 2007 | Phelps-Roper v. Nixon | 504 F. Supp. 2d 691 | 8 |
| 2010 | Hammer v. JP's Southwestern Foods, L.L.C. | 739 F. Supp. 2d 1155 | 7 |
| 2010 | Phelps-Roper v. Koster | 734 F. Supp. 2d 870 | 6 |
| 1994 | England v. John Alden Life Insurance | 846 F. Supp. 798 | 6 |
| 1996 | Bass v. General Motors Corp. | 929 F. Supp. 1287 | 5 |
| 1995 | Citicasters, Inc. v. McCaskill | 883 F. Supp. 1282 | 5 |
| 1992 | Moore v. Madigan | 789 F. Supp. 1479 | 5 |
| 2005 | Campos-Holmer v. Standard Life Insurance | 370 F. Supp. 2d 912 | 4 |
| 2006 | Lewallen v. Green Tree Servicing, L.L.C. | 343 B.R. 225 | 3 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 37 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 Fernando J. Gaitan Jr.?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in 1991.
- Was Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Fernando J. Gaitan Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on July 18, 1991. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. on?
- Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Government (Public domain), 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.
35 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).