Frank R. Zapata
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1996 and confirmed by voice vote, Frank R. Zapata is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. He earned a law degree from University of Arizona College of Law (now James E. Rogers College of Law) in 1973. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1944 · age 82
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1996
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Arizona 1966 · University of Arizona College of Law (now James E. Rogers College of Law) 1973
- Succeeded
- Richard Mansfield Bilby
- Succeeded by
- Rosemary Márquez
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | District of Arizona succeeded Richard Mansfield Bilby | Clinton (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
| Eastern Arizona College | A.A. | 1964 |
| University of Arizona | B.A. | 1966 |
| University of Arizona College of Law (now James E. Rogers College of Law) | J.D. | 1973 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Zapata was assigned 2,185 district-court cases (1975–2019). Median time from filing to termination: 153 days across 2,185 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 180 of Zapata’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 138 were affirmed, 30 reversed or vacated, and 12 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, Zapata authored 10 published opinions for the court (2003–2011). Most cited: Cooper v. QC Financial Services, Inc. (14 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Cooper v. QC Financial Services, Inc. | 503 F. Supp. 2d 1266 | 14 |
| 2011 | Valles v. Pima County | 776 F. Supp. 2d 995 | 5 |
| 2007 | Martinez v. Goddard | 521 F. Supp. 2d 1002 | 4 |
| 2009 | Valles v. Pima County | 642 F. Supp. 2d 936 | 2 |
| 2007 | Nomo Agroindustrial Sa De CV v. Enza Zaden North America, Inc. | 492 F. Supp. 2d 1175 | 2 |
| 2011 | U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Linton | 786 F. Supp. 2d 1374 | 0 |
| 2009 | Galligan v. Astrue | 656 F. Supp. 2d 1067 | 0 |
| 2009 | Werle v. Astrue | 633 F. Supp. 2d 857 | 0 |
| 2008 | Au-Tomotive Gold, Inc. v. Volkswagen of America, Inc. | 544 F. Supp. 2d 933 | 0 |
| 2003 | Gentala v. City of Tucson | 325 F. Supp. 2d 1012 | 0 |
Showing the 10 most-cited of 10 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 Frank R. Zapata?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Frank R. Zapata to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in 1996.
- Was Frank R. Zapata appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Frank R. Zapata was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Frank R. Zapata's confirmation vote?
- Frank R. Zapata was confirmed by voice vote on July 31, 1996. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Frank R. Zapata on?
- Frank R. Zapata is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (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.
30 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).