Kim McLane Wardlaw
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1998 and confirmed by voice vote, Kim McLane Wardlaw is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She earned a law degree from University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law in 1979. She previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1954 · age 72
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1998
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of California, Los Angeles 1976 · University of California, Los Angeles, Law 1979
- Succeeded
- John Clifford Wallace
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Central District of California succeeded David Vreeland Kenyon | Clinton (D) | Voice vote |
| 1998 | Ninth Circuit succeeded John Clifford Wallace | 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
| University of California, Los Angeles | A.B. | 1976 |
| University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law | J.D. | 1979 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Wardlaw was assigned 820 district-court cases (1986–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 217 days across 820 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, Wardlaw authored 33 published opinions for the court (1996–2012). Most cited: Mavrix Photo, Inc. v. Brand Technologies, Inc. (578 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Mavrix Photo, Inc. v. Brand Technologies, Inc. | 647 F.3d 1218 | 578 |
| 2011 | CollegeSource, Inc. v. AcademyOne, Inc. | 653 F.3d 1066 | 352 |
| 2011 | Thalheimer v. City of San Diego | 645 F.3d 1109 | 150 |
| 2011 | United States v. Ruiz-Apolonio | 657 F.3d 907 | 49 |
| 2010 | Costanich v. DEPT. OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES | 627 F.3d 1101 | 46 |
| 2012 | An Na Peng v. Holder | 673 F.3d 1248 | 33 |
| 1998 | Cochran v. NYP Holdings, Inc. | 58 F. Supp. 2d 1113 | 30 |
| 1996 | Greenpeace, Inc.(USA) v. State of France | 946 F. Supp. 773 | 17 |
| 1996 | Griffin v. Allstate Insurance | 920 F. Supp. 127 | 16 |
| 2011 | Withrow v. Bache Halsey Stuart Shield, Inc. | 655 F.3d 1032 | 15 |
| 2011 | United States v. Parker | 651 F.3d 1180 | 13 |
| 1996 | Ado Finance, AG v. McDonnell Douglas Corp. | 931 F. Supp. 711 | 13 |
| 1996 | Gould v. Harris | 929 F. Supp. 353 | 11 |
| 1996 | Paisa, Inc. v. N & G AUTO, INC. | 928 F. Supp. 1009 | 11 |
| 1997 | Carson Harbor Village, Ltd. v. Unocal Corp. | 990 F. Supp. 1188 | 10 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 33 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 Kim McLane Wardlaw?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Kim McLane Wardlaw to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1998.
- Was Kim McLane Wardlaw appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Kim McLane Wardlaw was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Kim McLane Wardlaw's confirmation vote?
- Kim McLane Wardlaw was confirmed by voice vote on July 31, 1998. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Kim McLane Wardlaw on?
- Kim McLane Wardlaw is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
28 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).