Leonie M. Brinkema
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1993 and confirmed by voice vote, Leonie M. Brinkema is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She earned a law degree from Cornell Law School in 1976. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1944 · age 82
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1993
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Rutgers 1966 · Cornell Law School 1976
- Succeeded
- Albert Vickers Bryan Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Eastern District of Virginia succeeded Albert Vickers Bryan Jr. | 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
| Rutgers University | B.A. | 1966 |
| Rutgers University | M.L.S. | 1970 |
| Cornell Law School | J.D. | 1976 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Brinkema was assigned 8,637 district-court cases (1991–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 112 days across 8,169 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 642 of Brinkema’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 554 were affirmed, 52 reversed or vacated, and 36 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, Brinkema authored 103 published opinions for the court (1994–2012). Most cited: Government Employees Insurance v. Google, Inc. (43 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Government Employees Insurance v. Google, Inc. | 330 F. Supp. 2d 700 | 43 |
| 2011 | PRAGMATUS AV, LLC v. Facebook, Inc. | 769 F. Supp. 2d 991 | 41 |
| 1998 | America Online, Inc. v. IMS | 24 F. Supp. 2d 548 | 30 |
| 2009 | State Analysis, Inc. v. American Financial Services Assoc. | 621 F. Supp. 2d 309 | 28 |
| 2010 | Cvent, Inc. v. Eventbrite, Inc. | 739 F. Supp. 2d 927 | 25 |
| 1998 | Dawson v. Leewood Nursing Home, Inc. | 14 F. Supp. 2d 828 | 25 |
| 2000 | Taylor v. Barnett | 105 F. Supp. 2d 483 | 22 |
| 1995 | Ecklund v. Fuisz Technology, Ltd. | 905 F. Supp. 335 | 22 |
| 2001 | Parisi v. Netlearning, Inc. | 139 F. Supp. 2d 745 | 19 |
| 2000 | Lucent Technologies, Inc. v. Lucentsucks. Com | 95 F. Supp. 2d 528 | 19 |
| 2008 | Aslam v. Mukasey | 531 F. Supp. 2d 736 | 17 |
| 2009 | In Re Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Derivative Litigation | 643 F. Supp. 2d 790 | 14 |
| 2004 | United States v. Khan | 309 F. Supp. 2d 789 | 14 |
| 2003 | Williams v. UNUM Life Insurance Co. of America | 250 F. Supp. 2d 641 | 14 |
| 1998 | Mainstream Loudoun v. Board of Trustees of Loudoun County Library | 24 F. Supp. 2d 552 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 103 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 Leonie M. Brinkema?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Leonie M. Brinkema to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 1993.
- Was Leonie M. Brinkema appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Leonie M. Brinkema was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Leonie M. Brinkema's confirmation vote?
- Leonie M. Brinkema was confirmed by voice vote on October 18, 1993. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Leonie M. Brinkema on?
- Leonie M. Brinkema is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of 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.
32 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).