Robert Foster Chapman
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Foster Chapman was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of South Carolina School of Law in 1949. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1926–2018
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of South Carolina 1945 · University of South Carolina Law 1949
- Succeeded
- Clement Furman Haynsworth Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Karen J. Williams
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | District of South Carolina | Nixon (R) | Voice vote |
| 1981 | Fourth Circuit succeeded Clement Furman Haynsworth Jr. | 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
Judicial Record
In our data, Chapman authored 58 published opinions for the court (1971–1981). Most cited: Ryan v. Eli Lilly & Co. (79 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Ryan v. Eli Lilly & Co. | 514 F. Supp. 1004 | 79 |
| 1979 | Heniford v. American Motors Sales Corp. | 471 F. Supp. 328 | 56 |
| 1978 | South Carolina Wildlife Federation v. Alexander | 457 F. Supp. 118 | 33 |
| 1979 | Pilot Industries v. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Co. | 495 F. Supp. 356 | 26 |
| 1977 | Moore v. Supreme Court of South Carolina | 447 F. Supp. 527 | 24 |
| 1973 | Holiday Inns, Inc. v. Holiday Inn | 364 F. Supp. 775 | 22 |
| 1976 | Pringle v. United States | 419 F. Supp. 289 | 21 |
| 1977 | Whitten v. American Mutual Liability Insurance | 468 F. Supp. 470 | 18 |
| 1980 | Boyce v. Harris | 492 F. Supp. 751 | 15 |
| 1977 | Springs Mills, Inc. v. Consumer Product Safety Commission | 434 F. Supp. 416 | 14 |
| 1978 | Sanders v. Auto Associates, Inc. | 450 F. Supp. 900 | 13 |
| 1977 | Bumgardner v. Combustion Engineering, Inc. | 432 F. Supp. 1289 | 13 |
| 1976 | North Carolina National Bank v. South Carolina National Bank | 449 F. Supp. 616 | 12 |
| 1972 | Kendall Elevator Co. v. LBC&W Associates of South Carolina, Inc. | 350 F. Supp. 75 | 11 |
| 1981 | Buchanan Home & Auto Supply Co. v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. | 544 F. Supp. 242 | 10 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 58 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 Foster Chapman?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Robert Foster Chapman to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1981.
- Was Robert Foster Chapman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert Foster Chapman was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Robert Foster Chapman's confirmation vote?
- Robert Foster Chapman was confirmed by voice vote on September 16, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Robert Foster Chapman on?
- Robert Foster Chapman was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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36 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).