Lawrence Paul Zatkoff
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and confirmed by voice vote, Lawrence Paul Zatkoff was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law) in 1966. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1939–2015
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1986
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Detroit (now of Detroit Mercy) 1962 · Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State College of Law) 1966
- Succeeded
- Ralph B. Guy Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Sean Francis Cox
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Eastern District of Michigan succeeded Ralph B. Guy Jr. | Reagan (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
| University of Detroit (now University of Detroit Mercy) | B.S. | 1962 |
| Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law) | J.D. | 1966 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Zatkoff was assigned 5,898 district-court cases (1976–2015). Median time from filing to termination: 205 days across 5,897 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 107 of Zatkoff’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 91 were affirmed, 12 reversed or vacated, and 4 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, Zatkoff authored 162 published opinions for the court (1986–2011). Most cited: Nasr v. Stegall (64 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Nasr v. Stegall | 978 F. Supp. 714 | 64 |
| 2010 | Strayhorn v. Booker | 718 F. Supp. 2d 846 | 61 |
| 2004 | Olivo v. GMAC Mortgage Corp. | 374 F. Supp. 2d 545 | 49 |
| 1998 | Lanni v. Engler | 994 F. Supp. 849 | 46 |
| 1988 | Weatherford v. Gluch | 708 F. Supp. 818 | 35 |
| 1991 | Helder v. Hitachi Power Tools, USA Ltd. | 764 F. Supp. 93 | 27 |
| 1997 | Czajkowski v. Tindall & Associates, P.C. | 967 F. Supp. 951 | 25 |
| 1991 | Moralez v. Meat Cutters Local 539 | 778 F. Supp. 368 | 24 |
| 1997 | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Frank's Nursery & Crafts, Inc. | 966 F. Supp. 500 | 22 |
| 1991 | Raines v. Colt Industries, Inc. | 757 F. Supp. 819 | 22 |
| 1989 | Anspec Co., Inc. v. Johnson Controls, Inc. | 734 F. Supp. 793 | 22 |
| 1997 | TCG Detroit v. City of Dearborn | 977 F. Supp. 836 | 20 |
| 1988 | United States v. Oakwood Downriver Medical Center | 687 F. Supp. 302 | 17 |
| 2010 | United States v. Hicks | 722 F. Supp. 2d 829 | 16 |
| 2000 | Grand Kensington, LLC v. Burger King Corp. | 81 F. Supp. 2d 834 | 16 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 162 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 Lawrence Paul Zatkoff?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Lawrence Paul Zatkoff to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1986.
- Was Lawrence Paul Zatkoff appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Lawrence Paul Zatkoff was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Lawrence Paul Zatkoff's confirmation vote?
- Lawrence Paul Zatkoff was confirmed by voice vote on March 3, 1986. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Lawrence Paul Zatkoff on?
- Lawrence Paul Zatkoff was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
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.
28 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).