John David Rainey
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and confirmed by voice vote, John David Rainey is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law (now Dedman School of Law) in 1972. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1945 · age 81
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1990
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Southern Methodist 1967 · Southern Methodist Law (now Dedman School of Law) 1972
- Succeeded
- Gabrielle Anne Kirk McDonald
- Succeeded by
- Gregg Jeffrey Costa
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Southern District of Texas succeeded Gabrielle Anne Kirk McDonald | G.H.W. Bush (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
| Southern Methodist University | B.B.A. | 1967 |
| Southern Methodist University School of Law (now Dedman School of Law) | J.D. | 1972 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Rainey was assigned 6,161 district-court cases (1981–2025). Median time from filing to termination: 349 days across 6,154 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 101 of Rainey’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 86 were affirmed, 10 reversed or vacated, and 5 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, Rainey authored 41 published opinions for the court (1990–2011). Most cited: United States Ex Rel. Smart v. Christus Health (15 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | United States Ex Rel. Smart v. Christus Health | 626 F. Supp. 2d 647 | 15 |
| 1999 | Houston Casualty Co. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London | 51 F. Supp. 2d 789 | 15 |
| 1994 | Santos v. City of Houston, Tex. | 852 F. Supp. 601 | 11 |
| 2006 | Crossroads of Texas, LLC v. Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance | 467 F. Supp. 2d 705 | 9 |
| 2007 | Educational Credit Management Corp. v. Pratt (In Re Pratt) | 375 B.R. 753 | 7 |
| 2006 | Reyes v. Texas Ezpawn, L.P. | 459 F. Supp. 2d 546 | 7 |
| 1995 | Hickman v. U.G. Lively | 897 F. Supp. 955 | 7 |
| 1992 | Thornton v. Fondren Green Apartments | 788 F. Supp. 928 | 7 |
| 2006 | Conner v. Celanese, Ltd. | 428 F. Supp. 2d 628 | 5 |
| 2003 | Laurence v. Atzenhoffer Chevrolet | 281 F. Supp. 2d 898 | 5 |
| 2002 | Yerby v. University of Houston | 230 F. Supp. 2d 753 | 5 |
| 2006 | Mahoney v. Ernst & Young LLP | 487 F. Supp. 2d 780 | 4 |
| 1999 | Women's Medical Center of NW Houston v. Archer | 159 F. Supp. 2d 414 | 4 |
| 1995 | New Bremen Corp. v. Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. | 913 F. Supp. 985 | 4 |
| 1991 | Enron Oil & Gas v. Lujan | 778 F. Supp. 348 | 4 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 41 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 David Rainey?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed John David Rainey to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in 1990.
- Was John David Rainey appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John David Rainey was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John David Rainey's confirmation vote?
- John David Rainey was confirmed by voice vote on May 11, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is John David Rainey on?
- John David Rainey is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
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.
36 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).