Thomas James McAvoy
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and confirmed by voice vote, Thomas James McAvoy is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. He earned a law degree from Albany Law School in 1964. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1938 · age 88
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1986
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Villanova 1960 · Albany Law School 1964
- Succeeded by
- Gary L. Sharpe
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Northern District of New York | 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
| Villanova University | A.B. | 1960 |
| Albany Law School | J.D. | 1964 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, McAvoy was assigned 8,434 district-court cases (1981–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 285 days across 8,400 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 266 of McAvoy’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 223 were affirmed, 23 reversed or vacated, and 20 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, McAvoy authored 449 published opinions for the court (1986–2011). Most cited: LaPorta v. Bowen (160 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | LaPorta v. Bowen | 737 F. Supp. 180 | 160 |
| 2008 | Jackson v. Onondaga County | 549 F. Supp. 2d 204 | 140 |
| 1995 | Delaney v. Selsky | 899 F. Supp. 923 | 93 |
| 1995 | Velasquez v. O'KEEFE | 899 F. Supp. 972 | 65 |
| 1995 | C-TC 9th Avenue Partnership v. Norton Co. (In Re C-TC 9th Avenue Partnership) | 182 B.R. 1 | 62 |
| 2010 | BASZTO v. Astrue | 700 F. Supp. 2d 242 | 53 |
| 1995 | United States v. Walker | 910 F. Supp. 837 | 43 |
| 1999 | Roman v. Cornell University | 53 F. Supp. 2d 223 | 34 |
| 1999 | Funk v. F & K SUPPLY, INC. | 43 F. Supp. 2d 205 | 33 |
| 1996 | Duprey v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America | 910 F. Supp. 879 | 33 |
| 1999 | Phipps v. New York State Department of Labor | 53 F. Supp. 2d 551 | 29 |
| 1996 | Bruneau Ex Rel. Schofield v. South Kortright Central School District | 935 F. Supp. 162 | 29 |
| 1995 | Romand v. Zimmerman | 881 F. Supp. 806 | 29 |
| 1994 | Higgins v. Monsanto Co. | 862 F. Supp. 751 | 29 |
| 1993 | Atlantic States Legal Foundation, Inc. v. Karg Bros. | 841 F. Supp. 51 | 29 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 449 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 Thomas James McAvoy?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas James McAvoy to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in 1986.
- Was Thomas James McAvoy appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Thomas James McAvoy was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Thomas James McAvoy's confirmation vote?
- Thomas James McAvoy was confirmed by voice vote on March 3, 1986. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Thomas James McAvoy on?
- Thomas James McAvoy is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
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.
40 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).