Eastern District of Michigan / Appointed 1988 / Served to 2014

Paul V. Gadola

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, Paul V. Gadola was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1953. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1929–2014
Appointed by
Ronald Reagan, 1988
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Michigan State College 1951 · University of Michigan Law School 1953
Succeeded
John Feikens

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1988Eastern District of Michigan
succeeded John Feikens
Reagan (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

Michigan State CollegeA.B.1951
University of Michigan Law SchoolJ.D.1953

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Gadola was assigned 5,549 district-court cases (1974–2013). Median time from filing to termination: 204 days across 5,546 closed cases.

Contract28%
Prisoner & habeas19%
Civil rights12%
Labor & ERISA10%
Personal-injury torts10%
Other federal statutes6%
Other15%

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 21 of Gadola’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 21 were affirmed, 0 reversed or vacated. 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, Gadola authored 636 published opinions for the court (1989–2008). Most cited: Lucas v. Leaseway Multi Transportation Service, Inc. (239 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1990Lucas v. Leaseway Multi Transportation Service, Inc.738 F. Supp. 214239
2002Lardie v. Birkett221 F. Supp. 2d 806205
2001Thomas v. Halter131 F. Supp. 2d 942112
2004Lyons v. Commissioner of Social Security351 F. Supp. 2d 659109
2001Williams v. Belknap154 F. Supp. 2d 106997
2006Edwards v. Johns450 F. Supp. 2d 75593
1999Hence v. Smith49 F. Supp. 2d 54791
1999Cook v. Stegall56 F. Supp. 2d 78878
2004Doyle v. Scutt347 F. Supp. 2d 47470
2003Redmond v. Jackson295 F. Supp. 2d 76759
2000Overland, Inc. v. Taylor79 F. Supp. 2d 80958
2004Burns v. Lafler328 F. Supp. 2d 71148
1994Atkins v. Overton843 F. Supp. 25848
2004Cameron v. Birkett348 F. Supp. 2d 82546
2003QQC, INC. v. Hewlett-Packard Co.258 F. Supp. 2d 71844

Showing the 15 most-cited of 636 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 V. Gadola?
President Ronald Reagan appointed Paul V. Gadola to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1988.
Was Paul V. Gadola appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Paul V. Gadola was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Paul V. Gadola's confirmation vote?
Paul V. Gadola was confirmed by voice vote on October 14, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Paul V. Gadola on?
Paul V. Gadola was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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26 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).