Robert Jensen Bryan
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Jensen Bryan is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. He earned a law degree from University of Washington School of Law in 1958. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1934 · age 92
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1986
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Washington 1956 · University of Washington Law 1958
- Succeeded by
- Ronald B. Leighton
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Western District of Washington | 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
| University of Washington | B.A. | 1956 |
| University of Washington School of Law | J.D. | 1958 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Bryan was assigned 6,380 district-court cases (1979–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 218 days across 6,373 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 234 of Bryan’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 203 were affirmed, 18 reversed or vacated, and 13 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, Bryan authored 50 published opinions for the court (1986–2011). Most cited: Harris by and Through Ramseyer v. Blodgett (52 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Harris by and Through Ramseyer v. Blodgett | 853 F. Supp. 1239 | 52 |
| 1990 | Folden v. Washington State Department of Social & Health Services | 744 F. Supp. 1507 | 33 |
| 1987 | Clark v. United States | 660 F. Supp. 1164 | 22 |
| 1988 | Travelers Insurance v. Ross Electric of Washington, Inc. | 685 F. Supp. 742 | 21 |
| 1990 | Columbia River Service Corp. v. Gilman | 751 F. Supp. 1448 | 19 |
| 1988 | State of Wash. v. Time Oil Co. | 687 F. Supp. 529 | 18 |
| 1990 | Louisiana-Pacific Corp. v. Asarco, Inc. | 735 F. Supp. 358 | 15 |
| 2011 | GOSSEN v. JPMorgan Chase Bank | 819 F. Supp. 2d 1162 | 12 |
| 2006 | Birkholm v. Washington Mutual Bank, F.A. | 447 F. Supp. 2d 1158 | 9 |
| 2010 | Brawley v. Washington | 712 F. Supp. 2d 1208 | 8 |
| 2002 | Hoffman v. United States | 209 F. Supp. 2d 1089 | 8 |
| 1997 | Passantino v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products, Inc. | 982 F. Supp. 786 | 8 |
| 2002 | Johnson v. Commissioner | 239 F. Supp. 2d 1125 | 7 |
| 2010 | Baumgardner v. Town of Ruston | 712 F. Supp. 2d 1180 | 5 |
| 2009 | Hamilton v. City of Olympia | 687 F. Supp. 2d 1231 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 50 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 Robert Jensen Bryan?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Robert Jensen Bryan to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in 1986.
- Was Robert Jensen Bryan appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert Jensen Bryan was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Robert Jensen Bryan's confirmation vote?
- Robert Jensen Bryan was confirmed by voice vote on April 24, 1986. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Robert Jensen Bryan on?
- Robert Jensen Bryan is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Administrative Office of the United States Courts (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.
40 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).