Robert Joseph Kelleher
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Joseph Kelleher was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1938. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1913–2012
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1970
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Williams College 1935 · Harvard Law School 1938
- Succeeded by
- Alicemarie Huber Stotler
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Central District of California | Nixon (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
| Williams College | A.B. | 1935 |
| Harvard Law School | J.D. | 1938 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Kelleher was assigned 1,766 district-court cases (1972–2007). Median time from filing to termination: 206 days across 1,765 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 11 of Kelleher’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 7 were affirmed, 2 reversed or vacated, and 2 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, Kelleher authored 66 published opinions for the court (1971–2003). Most cited: Peter v. Travelers Insurance Company (46 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Peter v. Travelers Insurance Company | 375 F. Supp. 1347 | 46 |
| 1986 | Grey v. Campbell Soup Co. | 650 F. Supp. 1166 | 42 |
| 1981 | Jason v. Fonda | 526 F. Supp. 774 | 39 |
| 1987 | Morris v. Parke, Davis & Co. | 667 F. Supp. 1332 | 35 |
| 2001 | Hendrickson v. eBay, Inc. | 165 F. Supp. 2d 1082 | 28 |
| 1980 | Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Co Petro Marketing Group, Inc. | 502 F. Supp. 806 | 24 |
| 1978 | Haye v. United States | 461 F. Supp. 1168 | 23 |
| 1998 | United States v. Shell Oil Co. | 13 F. Supp. 2d 1018 | 21 |
| 1978 | American Petroleum Institute v. Knecht | 456 F. Supp. 889 | 21 |
| 1993 | United States v. Shell Oil Co. | 841 F. Supp. 962 | 19 |
| 1989 | Hydro Systems, Inc. v. Continental Insurance | 717 F. Supp. 700 | 17 |
| 1981 | Security Pacific National Bank v. Government & State of Iran | 513 F. Supp. 864 | 17 |
| 1978 | United States v. Nat. Broadcasting Co., Inc. | 449 F. Supp. 1127 | 16 |
| 1992 | Du Mortier v. Massachusetts General Life Insurance | 805 F. Supp. 816 | 14 |
| 1971 | Johnson & Johnson v. Diaz | 339 F. Supp. 60 | 13 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 66 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 Joseph Kelleher?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Robert Joseph Kelleher to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 1970.
- Was Robert Joseph Kelleher appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert Joseph Kelleher was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Robert Joseph Kelleher's confirmation vote?
- Robert Joseph Kelleher was confirmed by voice vote on December 17, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Robert Joseph Kelleher on?
- Robert Joseph Kelleher was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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.
41 years on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).