John Malach Shaw
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, John Malach Shaw was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. He earned a law degree from Louisiana State University Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) in 1956. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1931–1999
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Washington and Lee 1953 · Louisiana State Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) 1956
- Succeeded by
- Robert Gillespie James
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Western District of Louisiana | Carter (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
| Washington and Lee University | B.S. | 1953 |
| Louisiana State University Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) | J.D. | 1956 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Shaw was assigned 3,697 district-court cases (1979–1999). Median time from filing to termination: 395 days across 3,696 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.
In our data, Shaw authored 32 published opinions for the court (1980–1995). Most cited: Hale v. Co-Mar Offshore Corp. (32 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Hale v. Co-Mar Offshore Corp. | 588 F. Supp. 1212 | 32 |
| 1980 | Shields v. Halliburton Co. | 493 F. Supp. 1376 | 26 |
| 1984 | Home Insurance v. Garber Industries, Inc. | 588 F. Supp. 1218 | 24 |
| 1985 | Rousseau v. Teledyne Movible Offshore, Inc. | 619 F. Supp. 1513 | 12 |
| 1984 | Drefchinski v. Regan | 589 F. Supp. 1516 | 12 |
| 1981 | Whitten v. Petroleum Club of Lafayette | 508 F. Supp. 765 | 11 |
| 1984 | Vaughn v. United States | 589 F. Supp. 1528 | 10 |
| 1984 | Jackson v. Guissinger | 589 F. Supp. 1288 | 10 |
| 1981 | State of La. v. Department of Energy | 507 F. Supp. 1365 | 10 |
| 1985 | Datamatic, Inc. v. International Business MacHines Corp. | 613 F. Supp. 715 | 7 |
| 1980 | Johnson v. City of Opelousas | 488 F. Supp. 433 | 7 |
| 1990 | Ranger Insurance v. Exxon Pipeline Co. | 760 F. Supp. 97 | 6 |
| 1984 | Ryland v. Shapiro | 586 F. Supp. 1495 | 6 |
| 1981 | Bertrand v. International Mooring & Marine, Inc. | 517 F. Supp. 342 | 6 |
| 1986 | FRANCIS ON BEHALF OF FRANCIS v. Forest Oil Corp. | 628 F. Supp. 836 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 32 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 Malach Shaw?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed John Malach Shaw to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in 1979.
- Was John Malach Shaw appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John Malach Shaw was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John Malach Shaw's confirmation vote?
- John Malach Shaw was confirmed by voice vote on September 25, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John Malach Shaw on?
- John Malach Shaw was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
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.
20 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).