Sven Erik Holmes
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1994 and confirmed by voice vote, Sven Erik Holmes was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. He earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1980. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1951 · age 75
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1994
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Harvard 1973 · University of Virginia Law 1980
- Succeeded
- James O. Ellison
- Succeeded by
- Gregory Kent Frizzell
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Northern District of Oklahoma succeeded James O. Ellison | 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
| Oklahoma City University School of Law | ||
| University of Oklahoma College of Business Administration | ||
| Harvard University | B.A. | 1973 |
| University of Virginia School of Law | J.D. | 1980 |
| Georgetown University Law Center | LL.M. | 1987 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Holmes was assigned 2,171 district-court cases (1982–2005). Median time from filing to termination: 270 days across 2,170 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.
In our data, Holmes authored 53 published opinions for the court (1995–2005). Most cited: McClain v. Southwest Steel Co., Inc. (28 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | McClain v. Southwest Steel Co., Inc. | 940 F. Supp. 295 | 28 |
| 1998 | United States v. Gardner | 23 F. Supp. 2d 1283 | 22 |
| 2004 | Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. v. Apache Corp. | 355 F. Supp. 2d 1246 | 20 |
| 1999 | Lewis v. Aetna U.S. Healthcare, Inc. | 78 F. Supp. 2d 1202 | 15 |
| 1998 | Terwilliger v. Home of Hope, Inc. | 21 F. Supp. 2d 1294 | 14 |
| 2003 | In Re Williams Companies ERISA Litigation | 271 F. Supp. 2d 1328 | 11 |
| 1998 | United States v. Revis | 22 F. Supp. 2d 1242 | 11 |
| 1998 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Grant | 8 F. Supp. 2d 1275 | 11 |
| 2001 | Millsap v. McDonnell Douglas Corp. | 162 F. Supp. 2d 1262 | 9 |
| 1998 | Henderson v. Whirlpool Corp. | 17 F. Supp. 2d 1238 | 9 |
| 1997 | Raskin v. Malloy | 231 B.R. 809 | 7 |
| 2003 | Baker v. Conoco Pipeline Co. | 280 F. Supp. 2d 1285 | 6 |
| 1995 | Ladd v. Sertoma Handicapped Opportunity Program, Inc. | 917 F. Supp. 766 | 6 |
| 2002 | Hanover Insurance v. Honeywell, Inc. | 200 F. Supp. 2d 1305 | 5 |
| 1997 | Oral Roberts University v. Anderson | 11 F. Supp. 2d 1336 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 53 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 Sven Erik Holmes?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Sven Erik Holmes to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in 1994.
- Was Sven Erik Holmes appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Sven Erik Holmes was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Sven Erik Holmes's confirmation vote?
- Sven Erik Holmes was confirmed by voice vote on October 7, 1994. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Sven Erik Holmes on?
- Sven Erik Holmes was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
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.
10 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).