Marilyn Hall Patel
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and confirmed by voice vote, Marilyn Hall Patel was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She earned a law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1963. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1938 · age 88
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1980
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Wheaton College, Illinois 1959 · Fordham Law 1963
- Succeeded by
- Edward John Davila
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Northern District of California | Carter (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
| Wheaton College, Illinois | B.A. | 1959 |
| Fordham University School of Law | J.D. | 1963 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Patel was assigned 5,066 district-court cases (1978–2011). Median time from filing to termination: 201 days across 5,065 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 130 of Patel’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 108 were affirmed, 10 reversed or vacated, and 12 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, Patel authored 307 published opinions for the court (1981–2011). Most cited: Barnes v. AT & T Pension Benefit Plannonbargained Program (143 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Barnes v. AT & T Pension Benefit Plannonbargained Program | 718 F. Supp. 2d 1167 | 143 |
| 2006 | In Re Napster, Inc. Copyright Litigation | 462 F. Supp. 2d 1060 | 108 |
| 1992 | Stender v. Lucky Stores, Inc. | 780 F. Supp. 1302 | 83 |
| 2008 | Lelaind v. City and County of San Francisco | 576 F. Supp. 2d 1079 | 78 |
| 1989 | In Re Activision Securities Litigation | 723 F. Supp. 1373 | 77 |
| 1983 | McLaughlin v. Connecticut General Life Insurance | 565 F. Supp. 434 | 76 |
| 2002 | Simmons v. PCR TECHNOLOGY | 209 F. Supp. 2d 1029 | 71 |
| 2008 | Oestreicher v. Alienware Corp. | 544 F. Supp. 2d 964 | 66 |
| 1984 | Korematsu v. United States | 584 F. Supp. 1406 | 51 |
| 1985 | In Re Activision Securities Litigation | 621 F. Supp. 415 | 48 |
| 1991 | United States v. Marshank | 777 F. Supp. 1507 | 47 |
| 2009 | Marolda v. Symantec Corp. | 672 F. Supp. 2d 992 | 46 |
| 1993 | Carr v. First Nationwide Bank | 816 F. Supp. 1476 | 46 |
| 1997 | Nicole M. Ex Rel. Jacqueline M. v. Martinez Unified School District | 964 F. Supp. 1369 | 43 |
| 1983 | Hudson v. Capital Management International, Inc. | 565 F. Supp. 615 | 43 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 307 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 Marilyn Hall Patel?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Marilyn Hall Patel to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1980.
- Was Marilyn Hall Patel appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Marilyn Hall Patel was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Marilyn Hall Patel's confirmation vote?
- Marilyn Hall Patel was confirmed by voice vote on June 26, 1980. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Marilyn Hall Patel on?
- Marilyn Hall Patel was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Northern District of California (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.
32 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).