Robert W. Pratt
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1997 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert W. Pratt was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He earned a law degree from Creighton University School of Law in 1972. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1947–2026
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1997
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Loras College 1969 · Creighton Law 1972
- Succeeded
- Harold Duane Vietor
- Succeeded by
- Stephanie Marie Rose
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Southern District of Iowa succeeded Harold Duane Vietor | 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
| Iowa Lakes Community College | A.A. | 1967 |
| Loras College | B.A. | 1969 |
| Creighton University School of Law | J.D. | 1972 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Pratt was assigned 3,983 district-court cases (1992–2023). Median time from filing to termination: 225 days across 3,980 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 357 of Pratt’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 327 were affirmed, 14 reversed or vacated, and 16 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, Pratt authored 351 published opinions for the court (1997–2011). Most cited: McDannel v. Apfel (76 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | McDannel v. Apfel | 78 F. Supp. 2d 944 | 76 |
| 2005 | Mitchell v. Barnhart | 376 F. Supp. 2d 916 | 52 |
| 2003 | Gordon v. Greenpoint Credit | 266 F. Supp. 2d 1007 | 30 |
| 1997 | Beal v. Rubbermaid Commercial Products Inc. | 972 F. Supp. 1216 | 30 |
| 2007 | Husinga v. Federal-Mogul Ignition Co. | 519 F. Supp. 2d 929 | 28 |
| 2008 | United States v. Shipley | 560 F. Supp. 2d 739 | 27 |
| 2007 | Rios v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. | 469 F. Supp. 2d 727 | 27 |
| 2010 | Haviland v. Catholic Health Initiatives-Iowa, Corp. | 692 F. Supp. 2d 1040 | 26 |
| 1997 | Shepherd v. Apfel | 981 F. Supp. 1188 | 26 |
| 1998 | Grove v. Principal Mutual Life Insurance | 14 F. Supp. 2d 1101 | 22 |
| 1997 | Dominguez v. City of Council Bluffs, Iowa | 974 F. Supp. 732 | 20 |
| 2009 | Young v. Wells Fargo & Co. | 671 F. Supp. 2d 1006 | 19 |
| 2008 | Jones v. Casey's General Stores | 551 F. Supp. 2d 848 | 19 |
| 2004 | Doe v. Miller | 298 F. Supp. 2d 844 | 18 |
| 2011 | SAM'S RIVERSIDE, INC. v. Intercon Solutions, Inc. | 790 F. Supp. 2d 965 | 17 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 351 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 W. Pratt?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Robert W. Pratt to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in 1997.
- Was Robert W. Pratt appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert W. Pratt 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 W. Pratt's confirmation vote?
- Robert W. Pratt was confirmed by voice vote on May 23, 1997. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Robert W. Pratt on?
- Robert W. Pratt was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
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.
28 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).