Paul Arthur Magnuson
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, Paul Arthur Magnuson is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. He earned a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) in 1963. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1937 · age 89
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Gustavus Adolphus College 1959 · William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline Law) 1963
- Succeeded
- Edward James Devitt
- Succeeded by
- Joan N. Ericksen
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | District of Minnesota succeeded Edward James Devitt | 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
| Gustavus Adolphus College | B.A. | 1959 |
| William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) | J.D. | 1963 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Magnuson was assigned 9,021 district-court cases (1970–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 223 days across 8,892 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 348 of Magnuson’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 309 were affirmed, 16 reversed or vacated, and 23 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, Magnuson authored 154 published opinions for the court (1982–2011). Most cited: United States v. Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. (118 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | United States v. Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. | 546 F. Supp. 1100 | 118 |
| 1995 | In Re TMJ Implants Products Liability Litigation | 872 F. Supp. 1019 | 39 |
| 1997 | Masepohl v. American Tobacco Co., Inc. | 974 F. Supp. 1245 | 36 |
| 2003 | Dare v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 267 F. Supp. 2d 987 | 30 |
| 1997 | In Re Grain Land Coop | 978 F. Supp. 1267 | 30 |
| 1998 | Smith v. DataCard Corp. | 9 F. Supp. 2d 1067 | 26 |
| 1993 | Maxam v. Lower Sioux Indian Community of Minnesota | 829 F. Supp. 277 | 26 |
| 1999 | Group Health Plan, Inc. v. Philip Morris, Inc. | 68 F. Supp. 2d 1064 | 24 |
| 1989 | United States v. Bell | 716 F. Supp. 1207 | 24 |
| 1986 | Ford Motor Co. v. B & H SUPPLY, INC. | 646 F. Supp. 975 | 24 |
| 2008 | In Re Viagra Products Liability Litigation | 572 F. Supp. 2d 1071 | 23 |
| 2000 | Tuttle v. Lorillard Tobacco Co. | 118 F. Supp. 2d 954 | 23 |
| 2009 | In Re Viagra Products Liability Litigation | 658 F. Supp. 2d 950 | 20 |
| 1997 | D.W. v. Radisson Plaza Hotel Rochester | 958 F. Supp. 1368 | 19 |
| 1998 | Coffey v. County of Hennepin | 23 F. Supp. 2d 1081 | 18 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 154 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 Arthur Magnuson?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Paul Arthur Magnuson to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in 1981.
- Was Paul Arthur Magnuson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Paul Arthur Magnuson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Paul Arthur Magnuson's confirmation vote?
- Paul Arthur Magnuson was confirmed by voice vote on October 29, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Paul Arthur Magnuson on?
- Paul Arthur Magnuson is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
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.
44 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).