Leland Chris Nielsen
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971 and confirmed by voice vote, Leland Chris Nielsen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. He earned a law degree from University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) in 1946. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1919–1999
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1971
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Washburn College 1941 · University of Southern California Law School (now Gould Law) 1946
- Succeeded by
- John Skylstead Rhoades Sr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Southern District of California | Nixon (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
| Washburn College | A.B. | 1941 |
| University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) | J.D. | 1946 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Nielsen was assigned 198 district-court cases (1973–1999). Median time from filing to termination: 520 days across 198 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, Nielsen authored 4 published opinions for the court (1971–1973). Most cited: United States v. King (98 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | United States v. King | 335 F. Supp. 523 | 98 |
| 1972 | Adams v. Egley | 338 F. Supp. 614 | 45 |
| 1973 | Reaves v. Bank of America | 352 F. Supp. 745 | 22 |
| 1972 | In Re Buttonwood Securities, Inc. | 349 F. Supp. 273 | 5 |
Showing the 4 most-cited of 4 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 Leland Chris Nielsen?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Leland Chris Nielsen to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 1971.
- Was Leland Chris Nielsen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Leland Chris Nielsen was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Leland Chris Nielsen's confirmation vote?
- Leland Chris Nielsen was confirmed by voice vote on May 20, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Leland Chris Nielsen on?
- Leland Chris Nielsen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Landy Douglass (CC BY-SA 4.0), 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. District Court for the Southern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).