Richard A. Schell
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, Richard A. Schell is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law (now Dedman School of Law) in 1975. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1950 · age 76
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1988
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Southern Methodist 1972 · Southern Methodist Law (now Dedman School of Law) 1975
- Succeeded
- William Merritt Steger
- Succeeded by
- Sean D. Jordan
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Eastern District of Texas succeeded William Merritt Steger | 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
| Southern Methodist University | B.A. | 1972 |
| Southern Methodist University School of Law (now Dedman School of Law) | J.D. | 1975 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Schell was assigned 10,649 district-court cases (1978–2022). Median time from filing to termination: 441 days across 10,640 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 209 of Schell’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 173 were affirmed, 15 reversed or vacated, and 21 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, Schell authored 260 published opinions for the court (1988–2011). Most cited: Encompass Office Solutions, Inc. v. Ingenix, Inc. (45 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Encompass Office Solutions, Inc. v. Ingenix, Inc. | 775 F. Supp. 2d 938 | 45 |
| 2001 | Coffman v. Provost ★ Umphrey Law Firm, L.L.P. | 161 F. Supp. 2d 720 | 30 |
| 1993 | Grynberg Production Corp. v. British Gas, P.L.C. | 817 F. Supp. 1338 | 28 |
| 2002 | In Re Norplant Contraceptive Products Liability Litigation | 215 F. Supp. 2d 795 | 27 |
| 1989 | Wallace v. Ryan-Walsh Stevedoring Co., Inc. | 708 F. Supp. 144 | 25 |
| 1995 | Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Chevron Chemical Co. | 900 F. Supp. 67 | 23 |
| 1999 | Robertson v. Kiamichi Railroad Co., LLC | 42 F. Supp. 2d 651 | 22 |
| 2001 | PaineWebber, Inc. v. Murray | 260 B.R. 815 | 21 |
| 2007 | Frederick v. Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc. | 558 F. Supp. 2d 699 | 20 |
| 1997 | Karr v. City of Beaumont, Tex. | 950 F. Supp. 1317 | 20 |
| 1998 | Reed v. Fina Oil & Chemical Co. | 995 F. Supp. 705 | 19 |
| 1997 | Horihan v. Hartford Ins. Co. of the Midwest | 979 F. Supp. 1073 | 19 |
| 1989 | Kervin v. Red River Ski Area, Inc. | 711 F. Supp. 1383 | 19 |
| 1997 | Riley v. Champion International Corp. | 973 F. Supp. 634 | 17 |
| 1997 | Teate v. Mutual Life Ins. Co. of New York | 965 F. Supp. 891 | 17 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 260 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 A. Schell?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Richard A. Schell to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in 1988.
- Was Richard A. Schell appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Richard A. Schell was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Richard A. Schell's confirmation vote?
- Richard A. Schell was confirmed by voice vote on May 27, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Richard A. Schell on?
- Richard A. Schell is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- 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.
38 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).