Thomas Michael Shanahan
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1993 and confirmed by voice vote, Thomas Michael Shanahan was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. He earned a law degree from Georgetown College (now Georgetown University) Law Center in 1959. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1934–2011
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1993
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Notre Dame 1956 · Georgetown College (now Georgetown) Law Center 1959
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | District of Nebraska | 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
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Shanahan was assigned 1,782 district-court cases (1986–2004). Median time from filing to termination: 254 days across 1,782 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 11 of Shanahan’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 10 were affirmed, 1 reversed or vacated. 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, Shanahan authored 20 published opinions for the court (1994–2004). Most cited: Sweeney v. Educational Credit Management Corp. (In Re Sweeney) (17 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Sweeney v. Educational Credit Management Corp. (In Re Sweeney) | 304 B.R. 360 | 17 |
| 1997 | Moore v. District Director, Immigration & Naturalization Service | 956 F. Supp. 878 | 14 |
| 1997 | United States v. Weaselhead | 36 F. Supp. 2d 908 | 11 |
| 2003 | Mid-Century Insurance v. Menking | 327 F. Supp. 2d 1049 | 7 |
| 1999 | Trimble v. Asarco Inc. | 83 F. Supp. 2d 1034 | 5 |
| 1998 | Timm v. Delong | 59 F. Supp. 2d 944 | 5 |
| 1997 | United States v. Wright | 965 F. Supp. 1307 | 4 |
| 1996 | Sanchez v. District Director, Immigration & Naturalization Service | 962 F. Supp. 1210 | 3 |
| 1995 | Lindsay Manufacturing Co. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. | 911 F. Supp. 1249 | 3 |
| 2004 | Givens v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. & Associates' Health & Welfare Plan | 327 F. Supp. 2d 1063 | 2 |
| 1995 | Best v. United States | 902 F. Supp. 1023 | 2 |
| 2003 | Givens v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. & Associates' Health & Welfare Plan | 327 F. Supp. 2d 1057 | 1 |
| 1995 | United States v. Dolan | 189 B.R. 484 | 1 |
| 2004 | Mutual of Omaha Insurance v. United States (Internal Revenue Service) | 317 F. Supp. 2d 1117 | 0 |
| 1997 | Call v. Callahan | 1 F. Supp. 2d 1017 | 0 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 20 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 Michael Shanahan?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Thomas Michael Shanahan to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska in 1993.
- Was Thomas Michael Shanahan appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Thomas Michael Shanahan was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Thomas Michael Shanahan's confirmation vote?
- Thomas Michael Shanahan was confirmed by voice vote on November 20, 1993. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Thomas Michael Shanahan on?
- Thomas Michael Shanahan was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the District of Nebraska (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.
18 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).