Joseph Robert Goodwin
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by voice vote, Joseph Robert Goodwin is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1970. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1942 · age 84
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1995
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- West Virginia 1965 · West Virginia College of Law 1970
- Succeeded
- Robert Jackson Staker
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Southern District of West Virginia succeeded Robert Jackson Staker | 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
| West Virginia University | B.S. | 1965 |
| West Virginia University College of Law | J.D. | 1970 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Goodwin was assigned 104,554 district-court cases (1985–2026), including large consolidated multidistrict litigation. Median time from filing to termination: 1,263 days across 104,370 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 420 of Goodwin’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 375 were affirmed, 34 reversed or vacated, and 11 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, Goodwin authored 148 published opinions for the court (1995–2011). Most cited: EXECUTIVE RISK INDEMNITY, INC. v. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. (56 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | EXECUTIVE RISK INDEMNITY, INC. v. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. | 681 F. Supp. 2d 694 | 56 |
| 2009 | Jones v. Dominion Resources Services, Inc. | 601 F. Supp. 2d 756 | 46 |
| 2010 | Woods v. Town of Danville, WV | 712 F. Supp. 2d 502 | 43 |
| 2005 | United States v. Gray | 362 F. Supp. 2d 714 | 35 |
| 1997 | Price v. National Board of Medical Examiners | 966 F. Supp. 419 | 32 |
| 1999 | Sayre v. Potts | 32 F. Supp. 2d 881 | 27 |
| 2008 | Tolley v. Monsanto Co. | 591 F. Supp. 2d 837 | 25 |
| 2004 | United States v. Shamblin | 323 F. Supp. 2d 757 | 24 |
| 1999 | Randolph v. Hendry | 50 F. Supp. 2d 572 | 23 |
| 2009 | Rhodes v. EI Du Pont De Nemours and Co. | 657 F. Supp. 2d 751 | 22 |
| 2010 | Kay Co. v. Equitable Production Co. | 749 F. Supp. 2d 455 | 19 |
| 2007 | United States v. Smith | 528 F. Supp. 2d 615 | 19 |
| 2009 | Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Hurst | 604 F. Supp. 2d 860 | 18 |
| 1995 | Pen Coal Corp. v. William H. McGee and Co., Inc. | 903 F. Supp. 980 | 17 |
| 2002 | United States v. Lewis | 220 F. Supp. 2d 548 | 16 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 148 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 Joseph Robert Goodwin?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Joseph Robert Goodwin to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 1995.
- Was Joseph Robert Goodwin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Joseph Robert Goodwin was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Joseph Robert Goodwin's confirmation vote?
- Joseph Robert Goodwin was confirmed by voice vote on May 8, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Joseph Robert Goodwin on?
- Joseph Robert Goodwin is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
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.
31 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).