Hugh Lawson
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by voice vote, Hugh Lawson was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. He earned a law degree from Emory University School of Law in 1964. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1941–2024
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1995
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Emory 1963 · Emory Law 1964
- Succeeded
- Wilbur Dawson Owens Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Marc Thomas Treadwell
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Middle District of Georgia succeeded Wilbur Dawson Owens Jr. | 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
| Emory University | B.A. | 1963 |
| Emory University School of Law | J.D. | 1964 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Lawson was assigned 5,651 district-court cases (1983–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 261 days across 5,640 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 237 of Lawson’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 203 were affirmed, 20 reversed or vacated, and 14 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, Lawson authored 40 published opinions for the court (1996–2010). Most cited: McCoy v. MacOn Water Authority (141 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | McCoy v. MacOn Water Authority | 966 F. Supp. 1209 | 141 |
| 2007 | Ross v. Corporation of Mercer University | 506 F. Supp. 2d 1325 | 25 |
| 2002 | Wilshin v. Allstate Insurance | 212 F. Supp. 2d 1360 | 13 |
| 1997 | Clay T. v. Walton County School District | 952 F. Supp. 817 | 12 |
| 2005 | Bracewell v. Kelley (In Re Bracewell) | 322 B.R. 698 | 11 |
| 2006 | United States v. Harrison | 430 F. Supp. 2d 1378 | 9 |
| 2003 | United States v. Jones | 267 F. Supp. 2d 1349 | 8 |
| 2007 | United States Aviation Underwriters Inc. v. United States | 530 F. Supp. 2d 1315 | 7 |
| 1998 | Webb v. Athens Newspapers, Inc. | 999 F. Supp. 1464 | 7 |
| 2001 | Hutson v. Rent-A-Center, Inc. | 209 F. Supp. 2d 1353 | 6 |
| 2005 | Garrett Ex Rel. Estate of Garrett v. Unum Life Insurance Co. of America | 427 F. Supp. 2d 1158 | 5 |
| 2001 | Northrup v. Conseco Finance Corp. | 141 F. Supp. 2d 1372 | 5 |
| 2010 | Wood v. Archbold Medical Center, Inc. | 738 F. Supp. 2d 1298 | 4 |
| 2010 | Weilbrenner v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 696 F. Supp. 2d 1329 | 4 |
| 2008 | United States v. Peterson | 544 F. Supp. 2d 1363 | 4 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 40 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 Hugh Lawson?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Hugh Lawson to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in 1995.
- Was Hugh Lawson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Hugh Lawson was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Hugh Lawson's confirmation vote?
- Hugh Lawson was confirmed by voice vote on December 22, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Hugh Lawson on?
- Hugh Lawson was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
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.
28 years on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).