John Thomas Elfvin
Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1974 and confirmed by voice vote, John Thomas Elfvin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. He earned a law degree from Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown University Law Center) in 1947. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1917–2009
- Appointed by
- Gerald Ford, 1974
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Cornell 1942 · Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown Law Center) 1947
- Succeeded
- John Oliver Henderson
- Succeeded by
- Richard Joseph Arcara
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Western District of New York succeeded John Oliver Henderson | Ford (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
| Cornell University | B.E.E. | 1942 |
| Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown University Law Center) | J.D. | 1947 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Elfvin was assigned 3,869 district-court cases (1976–2007). Median time from filing to termination: 295 days across 3,865 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 14 of Elfvin’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 12 were affirmed, 2 reversed or vacated. 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, Elfvin authored 236 published opinions for the court (1975–2007). Most cited: Pribek v. Secretary, Department of Health & Human Services (147 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | Pribek v. Secretary, Department of Health & Human Services | 717 F. Supp. 73 | 147 |
| 1983 | Whelehan v. County of Monroe | 558 F. Supp. 1093 | 66 |
| 1977 | Brick v. Dominion Mortgage & Realty Trust | 442 F. Supp. 283 | 61 |
| 1977 | Merkel Associates, Inc. v. Bellofram Corp. | 437 F. Supp. 612 | 51 |
| 1978 | Moss v. Ward | 450 F. Supp. 591 | 38 |
| 1978 | Miller Brewing Co. v. Carling O'Keefe Breweries of Canada, Ltd. | 452 F. Supp. 429 | 37 |
| 1984 | People of State of NY v. Holiday Inns, Inc. | 656 F. Supp. 675 | 35 |
| 1980 | Ford v. New York Central Teamsters Pension Fund | 506 F. Supp. 180 | 35 |
| 1984 | True v. New York State Department of Correctional Services | 613 F. Supp. 27 | 26 |
| 1976 | Dalsis v. Hills | 424 F. Supp. 784 | 26 |
| 1987 | Harrison v. Enventure Capital Group, Inc. | 666 F. Supp. 473 | 24 |
| 1982 | Lincoln First Bank, N.A. v. Tomei (In Re Tomei) | 24 B.R. 204 | 24 |
| 1982 | Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Gleave | 540 F. Supp. 81 | 24 |
| 1997 | In Re Albion Disposal, Inc. | 217 B.R. 394 | 23 |
| 1987 | Intellitek Computer Corp. v. Kollmorgen Corp. (In Re Nanodata Computer Corp.) | 74 B.R. 766 | 23 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 236 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 Thomas Elfvin?
- President Gerald Ford appointed John Thomas Elfvin to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in 1974.
- Was John Thomas Elfvin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John Thomas Elfvin was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John Thomas Elfvin's confirmation vote?
- John Thomas Elfvin was confirmed by voice vote on December 20, 1974. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John Thomas Elfvin on?
- John Thomas Elfvin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.
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.
34 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).