Who appointed Robert Charles Chambers?

President William J. Clinton appointed Robert Charles Chambers to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 1997.

Was Robert Charles Chambers appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Robert Charles Chambers was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Robert Charles Chambers's confirmation vote?

Robert Charles Chambers was confirmed by voice vote on September 5, 1997. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Southern District of West Virginia / Appointed 1997 / Active

Robert Charles Chambers

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia

Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1997 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Charles Chambers is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1977. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1952 · age 74
Appointed by: William J. Clinton, 1997
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Marshall 1974 · West Virginia College of Law 1977
Succeeded: Elizabeth Virginia Hallanan

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1997	Southern District of West Virginia succeeded Elizabeth Virginia Hallanan	Clinton (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

Marshall University	A.B.	1974
West Virginia University College of Law	J.D.	1977

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Chambers was assigned 8,409 district-court cases (1981–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 122 days across 8,179 closed cases.

Personal-injury torts54%

Property torts8%

Other civil matters6%

Social Security6%

Contract5%

Other federal statutes5%

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 211 of Chambers’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 173 were affirmed, 30 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, Chambers authored 97 published opinions for the court (1998–2011). Most cited: Hutchinson v. West Virginia State Police (33 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
2010	Hutchinson v. West Virginia State Police	731 F. Supp. 2d 521	33
2011	Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Inc. v. Maple Coal Co.	808 F. Supp. 2d 868	24
2004	Grennell v. Western Southern Life Insurance	298 F. Supp. 2d 390	24
2010	Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Inc. v. Hobet Mining, LLC	723 F. Supp. 2d 886	18
2005	Allen v. Monsanto Co.	396 F. Supp. 2d 728	18
1998	Zickafoose v. UB Services, Inc.	23 F. Supp. 2d 652	18
1999	Stone v. CSX Transportation, Inc.	37 F. Supp. 2d 789	17
2004	Cross Country Bank v. McGraw	321 F. Supp. 2d 816	16
2002	Cantley v. Simmons	179 F. Supp. 2d 654	16
2008	OHIO VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION, INC. v. Apogee Coal Co.	531 F. Supp. 2d 747	14
2004	Johnson v. New River Scenic Whitewater Tours, Inc.	313 F. Supp. 2d 621	14
2001	First Financial Insurance v. Crossroads Lounge, Inc.	140 F. Supp. 2d 686	14
2009	Harbolt v. STEEL OF WEST VIRGINIA, INC.	640 F. Supp. 2d 803	13
2005	Short v. Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, NA	401 F. Supp. 2d 549	13
2001	Carter Enterprises, Inc. v. Ashland Specialty Co.	257 B.R. 797	13

Showing the 15 most-cited of 97 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 Charles Chambers?: President William J. Clinton appointed Robert Charles Chambers to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 1997.
Was Robert Charles Chambers appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Robert Charles Chambers was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Robert Charles Chambers's confirmation vote?: Robert Charles Chambers was confirmed by voice vote on September 5, 1997. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Robert Charles Chambers on?: Robert Charles Chambers is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

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