Filemon Bartolome Vela
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and confirmed by voice vote, Filemon Bartolome Vela was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from St. Mary's University School of Law, Texas in 1962. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1935–2004
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1980
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- St. Mary's Law, Texas 1962
- Succeeded
- Reynaldo Guerra Garza
- Succeeded by
- Andrew S. Hanen
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Southern District of Texas succeeded Reynaldo Guerra Garza | 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
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Vela was assigned 2,061 district-court cases (1979–2004). Median time from filing to termination: 372 days across 2,056 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, Vela authored 23 published opinions for the court (1980–2000). Most cited: Vaquillas Ranch Co. v. Texaco Exploration & Production (25 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Vaquillas Ranch Co. v. Texaco Exploration & Production | 844 F. Supp. 1156 | 25 |
| 1982 | Nunez v. Boldin | 537 F. Supp. 578 | 23 |
| 1986 | Broadway v. San Antonio Shoe, Inc. | 643 F. Supp. 584 | 20 |
| 1985 | Entertainment & Sports Programming Network, Inc. v. Edinburg Community Hotel, Inc. | 623 F. Supp. 647 | 13 |
| 1993 | National Labor Relations Board v. Greyhound Lines, Inc. (In Re Eagle Bus Manufacturing, Inc.) | 158 B.R. 421 | 12 |
| 1992 | State of Tex. v. Mosbacher | 783 F. Supp. 308 | 12 |
| 1982 | Longoria v. Harris | 554 F. Supp. 102 | 10 |
| 1984 | Queen Noor, Inc. v. McGinn | 578 F. Supp. 218 | 9 |
| 1983 | Flores v. Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District | 554 F. Supp. 974 | 9 |
| 1986 | Entertainment & Sports Programming Network, Inc. v. Edinburg Community Hotel, Inc. | 735 F. Supp. 1334 | 8 |
| 1982 | McAllen State Bank v. Saenz | 561 F. Supp. 636 | 8 |
| 1981 | Espino v. Besteiro | 520 F. Supp. 905 | 8 |
| 1995 | United States v. Dominguez | 902 F. Supp. 737 | 6 |
| 1992 | Bur-Cold Express, Inc. v. Parker Hannifin Corp. | 808 F. Supp. 553 | 6 |
| 1981 | Hupp v. Port Brownsville Shipyard, Inc. | 515 F. Supp. 546 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 23 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 Filemon Bartolome Vela?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Filemon Bartolome Vela to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in 1980.
- Was Filemon Bartolome Vela appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Filemon Bartolome Vela was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Filemon Bartolome Vela's confirmation vote?
- Filemon Bartolome Vela was confirmed by voice vote on June 18, 1980. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Filemon Bartolome Vela on?
- Filemon Bartolome Vela was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
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.
23 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).