Royce C. Lamberth
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and confirmed by voice vote, Royce C. Lamberth is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He earned a law degree from University of Texas School of Law in 1967. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1943 · age 83
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1987
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Texas 1965 · University of Texas Law 1967
- Succeeded
- Barrington Daniels Parker Sr.
- Succeeded by
- Christopher Reid Cooper
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | District of Columbia succeeded Barrington Daniels Parker Sr. | 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 Texas | B.A. | 1965 |
| University of Texas School of Law | LL.B. | 1967 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Lamberth was assigned 4,654 district-court cases (1985–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 302 days across 4,217 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 383 of Lamberth’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 223 were affirmed, 91 reversed or vacated, and 69 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, Lamberth authored 2,220 published opinions for the court (1988–2026). Most cited: Valore v. Islamic Republic of Iran (261 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | Valore v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 700 F. Supp. 2d 52 | 261 |
| 2005 | Singh v. George Washington University | 383 F. Supp. 2d 99 | 251 |
| 1999 | Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 999 F. Supp. 1 | 233 |
| 2006 | Estate of Heiser v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 466 F. Supp. 2d 229 | 201 |
| 2010 | Murphy v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 740 F. Supp. 2d 51 | 183 |
| 2007 | Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 515 F. Supp. 2d 25 | 177 |
| 2005 | Cobell v. Norton | 355 F. Supp. 2d 531 | 158 |
| 2010 | Rimkus v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 750 F. Supp. 2d 163 | 142 |
| 2009 | In Re Islamic Republic of Iran Terrorism Litigation | 659 F. Supp. 2d 31 | 139 |
| 2015 | Roth v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 78 F. Supp. 3d 379 | 133 |
| 2011 | Oveissi v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 768 F. Supp. 2d 16 | 130 |
| 2009 | Estate of Heiser v. Islamic Republic of Iran | 659 F. Supp. 2d 20 | 129 |
| 2007 | Richards v. Duke University | 480 F. Supp. 2d 222 | 116 |
| 2011 | United States v. Choi | 818 F. Supp. 2d 79 | 114 |
| 2008 | Acosta v. the Islamic Republic of Iran | 574 F. Supp. 2d 15 | 113 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 2,220 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 Royce C. Lamberth?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Royce C. Lamberth to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 1987.
- Was Royce C. Lamberth appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Royce C. Lamberth was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Royce C. Lamberth's confirmation vote?
- Royce C. Lamberth was confirmed by voice vote on November 13, 1987. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Royce C. Lamberth on?
- Royce C. Lamberth is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Unknown author (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.
38 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).