Stephen Joseph Murphy III
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2008 and confirmed by voice vote, Stephen Joseph Murphy III is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from St. Louis University School of Law in 1987. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1962 · age 64
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2008
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Marquette 1984 · St. Louis Law 1987
- Succeeded
- Patrick J. Duggan
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Eastern District of Michigan succeeded Patrick J. Duggan | G.W. Bush (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
| Marquette University | B.S. | 1984 |
| St. Louis University School of Law | J.D. | 1987 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Murphy was assigned 3,323 district-court cases (1991–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 190 days across 2,773 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 268 of Murphy’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 195 were affirmed, 42 reversed or vacated, and 31 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, Murphy authored 34 published opinions for the court (2008–2011). Most cited: Maiberger v. City of Livonia (24 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | Maiberger v. City of Livonia | 724 F. Supp. 2d 759 | 24 |
| 2010 | KHODR v. Adduci | 697 F. Supp. 2d 774 | 24 |
| 2009 | Miller v. Adell (In Re John Richards Homes Building Co.) | 405 B.R. 192 | 18 |
| 2008 | In Re Ford Motor Co. ERISA Litigation | 590 F. Supp. 2d 883 | 14 |
| 2011 | Wilson v. Budco | 762 F. Supp. 2d 1047 | 13 |
| 2009 | John Richards Homes Building Co. v. Adell | 404 B.R. 220 | 12 |
| 2008 | Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. CPI Plastics Group, Ltd. | 625 F. Supp. 2d 508 | 11 |
| 2010 | Newburgh/Six Mile Limited Partnership v. Adlajbs Films USA, Inc. | 724 F. Supp. 2d 740 | 9 |
| 2009 | Finnerty v. Wireless Retail, Inc. | 624 F. Supp. 2d 642 | 9 |
| 2010 | Kowalak v. Scutt | 712 F. Supp. 2d 657 | 8 |
| 2010 | King v. Ridenour | 749 F. Supp. 2d 648 | 7 |
| 2010 | Express Welding, Inc. v. Superior Trailers, LLC | 700 F. Supp. 2d 789 | 7 |
| 2009 | Bucciarelli v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance | 662 F. Supp. 2d 809 | 7 |
| 2009 | Yaldo v. ALLSTATE PROPERTY AND CAS. INS. CO. | 641 F. Supp. 2d 644 | 7 |
| 2011 | Jimenez v. Allstate Indemnity Co. | 765 F. Supp. 2d 986 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 34 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 Stephen Joseph Murphy III?
- President George W. Bush appointed Stephen Joseph Murphy III to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 2008.
- Was Stephen Joseph Murphy III appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Stephen Joseph Murphy III was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Stephen Joseph Murphy III's confirmation vote?
- Stephen Joseph Murphy III was confirmed by voice vote on June 24, 2008. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Stephen Joseph Murphy III on?
- Stephen Joseph Murphy III is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: English hinton (CC BY-SA 4.0), 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.
17 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).