James Robertson Nowlin
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, James Robertson Nowlin is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. He earned a law degree from University of Texas School of Law in 1963. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1937 · age 89
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Trinity, San Antonio, Texas 1959 · University of Texas Law 1963
- Succeeded
- Jack Roberts
- Succeeded by
- Earl Leroy Yeakel III
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Western District of Texas succeeded Jack Roberts | Reagan (R) | 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
| Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas | B.A. | 1959 |
| Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas | M.A. | 1962 |
| University of Texas School of Law | J.D. | 1963 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Nowlin was assigned 3,472 district-court cases (1987–2025). Median time from filing to termination: 177 days across 3,459 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 90 of Nowlin’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 80 were affirmed, 7 reversed or vacated, and 3 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, Nowlin authored 75 published opinions for the court (1982–2011). Most cited: Thomas v. Johnston (35 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Thomas v. Johnston | 557 F. Supp. 879 | 35 |
| 1994 | Texas Food Industry Ass'n v. Espy | 870 F. Supp. 143 | 30 |
| 2010 | Pedigo v. Austin Rumba, Inc. | 722 F. Supp. 2d 714 | 29 |
| 1992 | Milstead Supply Co. v. Casualty Insurance | 797 F. Supp. 569 | 29 |
| 1995 | Washington Legal Foundation v. Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation | 873 F. Supp. 1 | 22 |
| 1985 | American Automobile Ass'n v. AAA Insurance Agency, Inc. | 618 F. Supp. 787 | 20 |
| 1989 | White v. Frank | 718 F. Supp. 592 | 19 |
| 1990 | McManus v. Travelers Health Network of Texas | 742 F. Supp. 377 | 17 |
| 1992 | Adams v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance | 797 F. Supp. 563 | 15 |
| 1987 | Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Railroad Commission of Texas | 671 F. Supp. 466 | 13 |
| 1986 | Kneeland v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n | 650 F. Supp. 1047 | 13 |
| 2001 | Sefton v. Jew | 201 F. Supp. 2d 730 | 12 |
| 2000 | Washington Legal Foundation v. Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation | 86 F. Supp. 2d 624 | 12 |
| 1992 | Ratcliff v. Fibreboard Corp. | 819 F. Supp. 584 | 11 |
| 1990 | United States v. 1977 Porsche Carrera 911 VIN 9117201924 License No. 459 DWR | 748 F. Supp. 1180 | 11 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 75 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 Robertson Nowlin?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed James Robertson Nowlin to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in 1981.
- Was James Robertson Nowlin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James Robertson Nowlin was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was James Robertson Nowlin's confirmation vote?
- James Robertson Nowlin was confirmed by voice vote on October 21, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is James Robertson Nowlin on?
- James Robertson Nowlin is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (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.
44 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).