John W. Darrah
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 2000 and confirmed by voice vote, John W. Darrah was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1969. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1938–2017
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 2000
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Loyola Chicago 1965 · Loyola Chicago Law 1969
- Succeeded
- George Michael Marovich
- Succeeded by
- Martha Maria Pacold
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Northern District of Illinois succeeded George Michael Marovich | 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
| Loyola University Chicago | B.S. | 1965 |
| Loyola University Chicago School of Law | J.D. | 1969 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Darrah was assigned 3,782 district-court cases (1992–2016). Median time from filing to termination: 169 days across 3,780 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 162 of Darrah’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 127 were affirmed, 25 reversed or vacated, and 10 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, Darrah authored 43 published opinions for the court (2000–2011). Most cited: United States v. Rogan (52 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | United States v. Rogan | 459 F. Supp. 2d 692 | 52 |
| 2011 | Pearson v. Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Inc. | 790 F. Supp. 2d 759 | 22 |
| 2011 | Dynamic Fluid Control (PTY) Ltd. v. International Valve Manufacturing, LLC | 790 F. Supp. 2d 732 | 14 |
| 2002 | Peaceable Planet, Inc. v. Ty, Inc. | 185 F. Supp. 2d 893 | 11 |
| 2001 | Yanez v. Holder | 149 F. Supp. 2d 485 | 11 |
| 2005 | Doe v. City of Chicago | 360 F. Supp. 2d 880 | 10 |
| 2011 | United States v. Midwest Generation, LLC | 781 F. Supp. 2d 677 | 9 |
| 2006 | Nilssen v. Osram Sylvania, Inc. | 440 F. Supp. 2d 884 | 8 |
| 2010 | United States v. Midwest Generation, LLC | 694 F. Supp. 2d 999 | 6 |
| 2004 | HSBC BANK USA v. United Air Lines, Inc. | 317 B.R. 335 | 6 |
| 2001 | Newcourt Financial USA, Inc. v. FT Mortgage Companies | 161 F. Supp. 2d 894 | 6 |
| 2001 | Great West Life & Annuity Insurance v. Moore Ex Rel. Moore | 133 F. Supp. 2d 677 | 6 |
| 2000 | Holasek v. United States Department of Justice | 123 F. Supp. 2d 1126 | 6 |
| 2010 | McLachlan v. Astrue | 703 F. Supp. 2d 791 | 5 |
| 2009 | Basile v. BLATT, HASENMILLER, LEIBSKER & MOORE, LLC | 632 F. Supp. 2d 842 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 43 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 John W. Darrah?
- President William J. Clinton appointed John W. Darrah to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2000.
- Was John W. Darrah appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John W. Darrah was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John W. Darrah's confirmation vote?
- John W. Darrah was confirmed by voice vote on June 30, 2000. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John W. Darrah on?
- John W. Darrah was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
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.
16 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).