Richard Alan Enslen
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, Richard Alan Enslen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 1958. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1931–2015
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Wayne State Law School 1958
- Succeeded
- Noel Peter Fox
- Succeeded by
- Paul Lewis Maloney
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Western District of Michigan succeeded Noel Peter Fox | 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
| Wayne State University Law School | LL.B. | 1958 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Enslen was assigned 4,940 district-court cases (1979–2008). Median time from filing to termination: 192 days across 4,940 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 160 of Enslen’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 130 were affirmed, 22 reversed or vacated, and 8 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, Enslen authored 315 published opinions for the court (1980–2008). Most cited: United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Thomas Solvent Co. (73 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Thomas Solvent Co. | 683 F. Supp. 1139 | 73 |
| 1983 | Jenkins v. Haworth, Inc. | 572 F. Supp. 591 | 53 |
| 1989 | Kelley v. Thomas Solvent Co. | 714 F. Supp. 1439 | 45 |
| 1987 | Rodriguez Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Berrybrook Farms, Inc. | 672 F. Supp. 1009 | 44 |
| 1984 | Great Lakes Educational Consultants v. Federal Emergency Management Agency | 582 F. Supp. 193 | 42 |
| 1989 | Kelley v. Thomas Solvent Co. | 727 F. Supp. 1532 | 40 |
| 1987 | Knop v. Johnson | 667 F. Supp. 467 | 40 |
| 1981 | Baldauf v. Amoco Oil Co. | 553 F. Supp. 408 | 36 |
| 1991 | Upjohn Co. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. | 768 F. Supp. 1186 | 35 |
| 1987 | Remes v. ACME Carton Corp. (In Re Fasano/Harriss Pie Co.) | 71 B.R. 287 | 28 |
| 1986 | Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Association-MEA-NEA | 643 F. Supp. 1306 | 27 |
| 1989 | Arco Industries Corp. v. Travelers Ins. | 730 F. Supp. 59 | 25 |
| 1993 | Doe Ex Rel. Smith v. Johnson | 817 F. Supp. 1382 | 23 |
| 1990 | Schalk v. Teledyne, Inc. | 751 F. Supp. 1261 | 23 |
| 1993 | Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. Shammas | 865 F. Supp. 429 | 21 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 315 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 Richard Alan Enslen?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Richard Alan Enslen to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in 1979.
- Was Richard Alan Enslen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Richard Alan Enslen was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Richard Alan Enslen's confirmation vote?
- Richard Alan Enslen was confirmed by voice vote on December 20, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Richard Alan Enslen on?
- Richard Alan Enslen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
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.
35 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).