Who appointed Frederick J. Kapala?

President George W. Bush appointed Frederick J. Kapala to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2007.

Was Frederick J. Kapala appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Frederick J. Kapala was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Frederick J. Kapala's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Frederick J. Kapala 91–0 on May 8, 2007.

Northern District of Illinois / Appointed 2007 / Senior status since 2019

Frederick J. Kapala

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007 and confirmed by the Senate 91–0, Frederick J. Kapala is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from University of Illinois College of Law in 1976. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1950 · age 76
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2007
Confirmed: 91–0
Education: Marquette 1972 · University of Illinois College of Law 1976
Succeeded: Philip Godfrey Reinhard
Succeeded by: Iain David Johnston

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2007	Northern District of Illinois succeeded Philip Godfrey Reinhard	G.W. Bush (R)	91–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 91–0 on May 8, 2007 · 110th Congress, Roll Call 153. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 91

44 D, 45 R, 2 I

Did not vote · 9

5 D, 4 R

Education

Marquette University	B.A.	1972
University of Illinois College of Law	J.D.	1976

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Kapala was assigned 2,397 district-court cases (2002–2019). Median time from filing to termination: 186 days across 2,397 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas30%

Civil rights19%

Real property10%

Labor & ERISA10%

Other federal statutes9%

Contract8%

Other15%

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 185 of Kapala’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 148 were affirmed, 27 reversed or vacated, and 10 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, Kapala authored 9 published opinions for the court (2008–2011). Most cited: Stonecrafters, Inc. v. Foxfire Printing & Packaging, Inc. (22 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
2009	Stonecrafters, Inc. v. Foxfire Printing & Packaging, Inc.	633 F. Supp. 2d 610	22
2009	Richter v. INSTAR Enterprises International, Inc.	594 F. Supp. 2d 1000	18
2011	United States v. DeJesus Ortiz	807 F. Supp. 2d 746	4
2010	United States v. Williams	702 F. Supp. 2d 1021	4
2009	Rodas v. SwedishAmerican Health System Corp.	594 F. Supp. 2d 1033	4
2008	United States v. Bruce	531 F. Supp. 2d 983	3
2009	Barker v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150	641 F. Supp. 2d 698	2
2008	Viteri v. Pflucker	550 F. Supp. 2d 829	2
2009	United States v. Swanson	677 F. Supp. 2d 1030	0

Showing the 9 most-cited of 9 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 Frederick J. Kapala?: President George W. Bush appointed Frederick J. Kapala to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2007.
Was Frederick J. Kapala appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Frederick J. Kapala was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Frederick J. Kapala's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Frederick J. Kapala 91–0 on May 8, 2007.
Which court is Frederick J. Kapala on?: Frederick J. Kapala is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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19 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).