G. Thomas Porteous Jr.
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1994 and confirmed by voice vote, G. Thomas Porteous Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He earned a law degree from Louisiana State University Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) in 1971. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1946–2021
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1994
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Louisiana State 1968 · Louisiana State Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) 1971
- Succeeded
- Robert Frederick Collins
- Succeeded by
- Susie Morgan
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Eastern District of Louisiana succeeded Robert Frederick Collins | 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
| Louisiana State University | B.A. | 1968 |
| Louisiana State University Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) | J.D. | 1971 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Porteous was assigned 3,237 district-court cases (1988–2008). Median time from filing to termination: 247 days across 3,236 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 17 of Porteous’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 17 were affirmed, 0 reversed or vacated. 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, Porteous authored 45 published opinions for the court (1995–2008). Most cited: Causeway Medical Suite v. Foster (28 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Causeway Medical Suite v. Foster | 43 F. Supp. 2d 604 | 28 |
| 1999 | BTE v. Bonnecaze | 43 F. Supp. 2d 619 | 10 |
| 1998 | Leboeuf v. Texaco | 9 F. Supp. 2d 661 | 9 |
| 1996 | LOUISIANA SEAFOOD MNGT. COUNCIL, INC. v. Foster | 917 F. Supp. 439 | 8 |
| 2008 | Six Flags Inc. v. Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance | 535 F. Supp. 2d 744 | 7 |
| 1998 | Roper v. Exxon Corp. | 27 F. Supp. 2d 679 | 7 |
| 1998 | Okpalobi v. Foster | 981 F. Supp. 977 | 7 |
| 2003 | In Re Complaint of Danos & Curole Marine Contractors, Inc. | 278 F. Supp. 2d 783 | 6 |
| 2002 | In Re Schwegmann Giant Super Markets | 287 B.R. 649 | 5 |
| 1999 | Colarte v. LeBlanc | 40 F. Supp. 2d 816 | 5 |
| 1997 | Walthall v. E-Z Serve Convenience Stores, Inc. | 988 F. Supp. 996 | 5 |
| 2004 | Anderson v. Orleans Parish School Board | 340 F. Supp. 2d 716 | 4 |
| 2001 | Wilson v. Laitram Corp. | 131 F. Supp. 2d 826 | 4 |
| 1999 | Holland v. Norton | 70 F. Supp. 2d 666 | 4 |
| 2001 | United States v. Lee | 156 F. Supp. 2d 620 | 3 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 45 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 G. Thomas Porteous Jr.?
- President William J. Clinton appointed G. Thomas Porteous Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 1994.
- Was G. Thomas Porteous Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- G. Thomas Porteous Jr. was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was G. Thomas Porteous Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- G. Thomas Porteous Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 7, 1994. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was G. Thomas Porteous Jr. on?
- G. Thomas Porteous Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Senate Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles of Impeachment Against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana (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.
16 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).