James Levin Latchum
Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 and confirmed by voice vote, James Levin Latchum was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. He earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1946. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1918–2004
- Appointed by
- Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Princeton 1940 · University of Virginia Law 1946
- Succeeded
- Caleb Rodney Layton III
- Succeeded by
- Joseph J. Longobardi
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | District of Delaware succeeded Caleb Rodney Layton III | L.B. Johnson (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
| Princeton University | A.B. | 1940 |
| University of Virginia School of Law | LL.B. | 1946 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Latchum was assigned 456 district-court cases (1978–1995). Median time from filing to termination: 317 days across 456 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, Latchum authored 422 published opinions for the court (1968–1995). Most cited: Mobil Oil Corporation v. Linear Films, Inc. (121 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Mobil Oil Corporation v. Linear Films, Inc. | 718 F. Supp. 260 | 121 |
| 1970 | Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association v. Finch | 307 F. Supp. 858 | 78 |
| 1987 | New Castle County v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. | 673 F. Supp. 1359 | 69 |
| 1984 | Kalmanovitz v. G. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. | 595 F. Supp. 1385 | 67 |
| 1982 | Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Monroe Park (In Re Monroe Park) | 17 B.R. 934 | 60 |
| 1992 | Miller v. Correctional Medical Systems, Inc. | 802 F. Supp. 1126 | 57 |
| 1981 | Hill v. Der | 521 F. Supp. 1370 | 57 |
| 1989 | Chesapeake Utilities Corp. v. American Home Assurance Co. | 704 F. Supp. 551 | 51 |
| 1980 | United States v. Boffa | 513 F. Supp. 444 | 51 |
| 1989 | New Castle County v. Continental Cas. Co.(CNA) | 725 F. Supp. 800 | 50 |
| 1983 | Ontario Hydro v. Zallea Systems, Inc. | 569 F. Supp. 1261 | 50 |
| 1970 | Jacobs v. Tenney | 316 F. Supp. 151 | 50 |
| 1991 | Waste Distillation Technology, Inc. v. Pan American Resources, Inc. | 775 F. Supp. 759 | 48 |
| 1981 | Oliver B. Cannon & Son, Inc. v. Fidelity & Casualty Co. | 519 F. Supp. 668 | 48 |
| 1971 | Dillon v. Berg | 326 F. Supp. 1214 | 47 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 422 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 James Levin Latchum?
- President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed James Levin Latchum to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in 1968.
- Was James Levin Latchum appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James Levin Latchum was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was James Levin Latchum's confirmation vote?
- James Levin Latchum was confirmed by voice vote on August 2, 1968. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James Levin Latchum on?
- James Levin Latchum was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
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.
35 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).