Patrick F. Kelly
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and confirmed by voice vote, Patrick F. Kelly was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. He earned a law degree from Washburn University School of Law in 1953. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1929–2007
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1980
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Municipal of Wichita (now Wichita State University) 1951 · Washburn Law 1953
- Succeeded
- Wesley Ernest Brown
- Succeeded by
- John Thomas Marten
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | District of Kansas succeeded Wesley Ernest Brown | 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
| Municipal University of Wichita (now Wichita State University) | B.A. | 1951 |
| Washburn University School of Law | LL.B. | 1953 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Kelly was assigned 1,281 district-court cases (1982–1995). Median time from filing to termination: 250 days across 1,281 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, Kelly authored 179 published opinions for the court (1980–1996). Most cited: Clotfelter v. Ciba-Geigy Corp. (In Re Threewitt) (72 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Clotfelter v. Ciba-Geigy Corp. (In Re Threewitt) | 24 B.R. 927 | 72 |
| 1987 | Graham Ex Rel. Graham v. Wyeth Laboratories | 666 F. Supp. 1483 | 61 |
| 1990 | Maddy v. Vulcan Materials Co. | 737 F. Supp. 1528 | 50 |
| 1984 | Fletcher v. Wesley Medical Center | 585 F. Supp. 1260 | 50 |
| 1987 | Reazin v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc. | 663 F. Supp. 1360 | 47 |
| 1986 | Agristor Leasing v. Gene E. | 634 F. Supp. 1208 | 41 |
| 1986 | NL Industries, Inc. v. Gulf & Western Industries, Inc. | 650 F. Supp. 1115 | 38 |
| 1985 | Claassen v. Heckler | 600 F. Supp. 1507 | 38 |
| 1989 | Mathis v. Boeing Military Airplane Co. | 719 F. Supp. 991 | 33 |
| 1989 | Wahl v. City of Wichita, Kan. | 725 F. Supp. 1133 | 32 |
| 1984 | Johnston v. United States | 597 F. Supp. 374 | 32 |
| 1986 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Nemecek | 641 F. Supp. 740 | 31 |
| 1981 | Mid American Credit Union v. Davis (In Re Davis) | 16 B.R. 473 | 31 |
| 1992 | Resolution Trust Corp. v. Scaletty | 810 F. Supp. 1505 | 28 |
| 1990 | Stewart v. Myrick | 731 F. Supp. 433 | 25 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 179 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 Patrick F. Kelly?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Patrick F. Kelly to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in 1980.
- Was Patrick F. Kelly appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Patrick F. Kelly was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Patrick F. Kelly's confirmation vote?
- Patrick F. Kelly was confirmed by voice vote on May 21, 1980. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Patrick F. Kelly on?
- Patrick F. Kelly was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
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.
15 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).