Eastern District of Pennsylvania / Appointed 1988 / Served to 2026

Jan Ely DuBois

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, Jan Ely DuBois was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 1957. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1931–2026
Appointed by
Ronald Reagan, 1988
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
University of Pennsylvania 1952 · Yale Law School 1957

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1988Eastern District of PennsylvaniaReagan (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

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, DuBois was assigned 6,337 district-court cases (1972–2021). Median time from filing to termination: 218 days across 6,335 closed cases.

Personal-injury torts27%
Civil rights16%
Contract15%
Prisoner & habeas13%
Other federal statutes9%
Labor & ERISA7%
Other14%

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 142 of DuBois’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 119 were affirmed, 15 reversed or vacated, and 8 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, DuBois authored 192 published opinions for the court (1988–2011). Most cited: United States v. Jasin (403 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1998United States v. Jasin25 F. Supp. 2d 551403
2000Smith v. School District of Philadelphia112 F. Supp. 2d 41762
2006Baker v. FAMILY CREDIT COUNSELING COPR.440 F. Supp. 2d 39260
2004Robinson v. Hartzell Propeller Inc.326 F. Supp. 2d 63147
1995Austin v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections876 F. Supp. 143747
1997Gindraw v. Dendler967 F. Supp. 83343
2003United States v. Jasin292 F. Supp. 2d 67042
1990Clemente v. Espinosa749 F. Supp. 67241
2011Lowenstein v. CATHOLIC HEALTH EAST820 F. Supp. 2d 63940
2008Urella v. Pennsylvania State Troopers Ass'n628 F. Supp. 2d 60033
2006Ostroff v. Alterra Healthcare Corp.433 F. Supp. 2d 53828
2004Lawman Armor Corp. v. Simon319 F. Supp. 2d 49926
2003In Re Linerboard Antitrust Litigation296 F. Supp. 2d 56825
2001Laird v. Horn159 F. Supp. 2d 5825
1988Citicorp Homeowners Services, Inc. v. Elliot (In Re Elliot)94 B.R. 34324

Showing the 15 most-cited of 192 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 Jan Ely DuBois?
President Ronald Reagan appointed Jan Ely DuBois to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1988.
Was Jan Ely DuBois appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Jan Ely DuBois was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Jan Ely DuBois's confirmation vote?
Jan Ely DuBois was confirmed by voice vote on July 26, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Jan Ely DuBois on?
Jan Ely DuBois was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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