Who appointed Joseph Michael McLaughlin?

President George H.W. Bush appointed Joseph Michael McLaughlin to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1990.

Was Joseph Michael McLaughlin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Joseph Michael McLaughlin 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 Joseph Michael McLaughlin's confirmation vote?

Joseph Michael McLaughlin was confirmed by voice vote on October 12, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Second Circuit / Appointed 1990 / Served to 2013

Joseph Michael McLaughlin

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and confirmed by voice vote, Joseph Michael McLaughlin was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He earned a law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1959. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1933–2013
Appointed by: George H.W. Bush, 1990
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Fordham College 1954 · Fordham Law 1959
Succeeded: Lawrence Warren Pierce
Succeeded by: Chester J. Straub

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1981	Eastern District of New York	Reagan (R)	Voice vote
1990	Second Circuit succeeded Lawrence Warren Pierce	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

Fordham College	A.B.	1954
Fordham University School of Law	LL.B.	1959
New York University School of Law	LL.M.	1964

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, McLaughlin was assigned 375 district-court cases (1980–1992). Median time from filing to termination: 316 days across 334 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas19%

Contract17%

Criminal14%

Social Security11%

Personal-injury torts10%

Labor & ERISA6%

Other22%

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, McLaughlin authored 203 published opinions for the court (1981–1991). Most cited: In Re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated Dec. 18, 1981, Etc. (61 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1982	In Re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated Dec. 18, 1981, Etc.	561 F. Supp. 1247	61
1988	Bambu Sales, Inc. v. Sultana Crackers, Inc.	683 F. Supp. 899	42
1986	United States v. Santoro	647 F. Supp. 153	42
1986	Lemme v. Wine of Japan Import, Inc.	631 F. Supp. 456	39
1984	Soltex Polymer Corp. v. Fortex Industries, Inc.	590 F. Supp. 1453	39
1984	Computerized Radiological Services, Inc. v. Syntex Corp.	595 F. Supp. 1495	37
1983	T.I.M.E.—DC, Inc. v. Trucking Employees of North Jersey Welfare Fund, Inc.	560 F. Supp. 294	34
1990	First City National Bank & Trust Co. v. Federal Deposit Insurance	730 F. Supp. 501	33
1989	Posner v. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co.	713 F. Supp. 562	30
1985	Rojas v. First Bank National Ass'n	613 F. Supp. 968	29
1987	Reiter's Beer Distributors, Inc. v. Christian Schmidt Brewing Co.	657 F. Supp. 136	28
1990	Baker's Aid, a Division of M. Raubvogel Co. v. Hussmann Foodservice Co.	730 F. Supp. 1209	27
1989	Diaz v. South Bend Lathe Inc.	707 F. Supp. 97	27
1986	United States v. Schwimmer	649 F. Supp. 544	27
1990	City of New York v. United States Department of Commerce	739 F. Supp. 761	25

Showing the 15 most-cited of 203 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 Michael McLaughlin?: President George H.W. Bush appointed Joseph Michael McLaughlin to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1990.
Was Joseph Michael McLaughlin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Joseph Michael McLaughlin 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 Joseph Michael McLaughlin's confirmation vote?: Joseph Michael McLaughlin was confirmed by voice vote on October 12, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Joseph Michael McLaughlin on?: Joseph Michael McLaughlin was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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22 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).