Paul L. Friedman
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1994 and confirmed by voice vote, Paul L. Friedman is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He earned a law degree from State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1968. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1944 · age 82
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1994
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Cornell 1965 · State of New York at Buffalo Law School 1968
- Succeeded
- Gerhard Alden Gesell
- Succeeded by
- Beryl Alaine Howell
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | District of Columbia succeeded Gerhard Alden Gesell | 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
| New York University School of Law | ||
| Cornell University | B.A. | 1965 |
| State University of New York at Buffalo Law School | J.D. | 1968 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Friedman was assigned 2,896 district-court cases (1973–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 301 days across 2,690 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 196 of Friedman’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 143 were affirmed, 31 reversed or vacated, and 22 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, Friedman authored 1,952 published opinions for the court (1994–2026). Most cited: Defenders of Wildlife v. United States Border Patrol (609 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Defenders of Wildlife v. United States Border Patrol | 623 F. Supp. 2d 83 | 609 |
| 2007 | Bigwood v. United States Agency for International Development | 484 F. Supp. 2d 68 | 219 |
| 1995 | Fund for Animals v. Babbitt | 903 F. Supp. 96 | 211 |
| 2006 | Speelman v. United States | 461 F. Supp. 2d 71 | 187 |
| 2007 | Bush v. Butler | 521 F. Supp. 2d 63 | 129 |
| 2009 | Belkin v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 667 F. Supp. 2d 8 | 128 |
| 2006 | Erby v. United States | 424 F. Supp. 2d 180 | 121 |
| 1998 | Blumenthal v. Drudge | 992 F. Supp. 44 | 115 |
| 2011 | Rooths v. District of Columbia | 802 F. Supp. 2d 56 | 105 |
| 2003 | Atlantigas Corp. v. Nisource, Inc. | 290 F. Supp. 2d 34 | 97 |
| 2009 | Curran v. Holder | 626 F. Supp. 2d 30 | 93 |
| 2006 | Long v. United States Department of Justice | 450 F. Supp. 2d 42 | 93 |
| 2003 | Hertzberg v. Veneman | 273 F. Supp. 2d 67 | 91 |
| 2004 | Coleman-Adebayo v. Leavitt | 326 F. Supp. 2d 132 | 89 |
| 2002 | Judicial Watch, Inc. v. United States Department of Justice | 185 F. Supp. 2d 54 | 88 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 1,952 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 Paul L. Friedman?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Paul L. Friedman to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 1994.
- Was Paul L. Friedman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Paul L. Friedman was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Paul L. Friedman's confirmation vote?
- Paul L. Friedman was confirmed by voice vote on June 15, 1994. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Paul L. Friedman on?
- Paul L. Friedman is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Mary Noble Ours (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 District of Columbia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).