Virginia A. Phillips
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1999 and confirmed by voice vote, Virginia A. Phillips is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She earned a law degree from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 1982. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1957 · age 69
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1999
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of California, Riverside 1979 · University of California, Berkeley, Law 1982
- Succeeded
- William Matthew Byrne Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Wesley Liu Hsu
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Central District of California succeeded William Matthew Byrne Jr. | 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
| University of California, Riverside | B.A. | 1979 |
| University of California, Berkeley, School of Law | J.D. | 1982 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Phillips was assigned 7,141 district-court cases (1991–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 181 days across 7,136 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 590 of Phillips’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 409 were affirmed, 98 reversed or vacated, and 83 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, Phillips authored 24 published opinions for the court (2000–2011). Most cited: True v. American Honda Motor Co. (41 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | True v. American Honda Motor Co. | 749 F. Supp. 2d 1052 | 41 |
| 2003 | Van Winkle v. Allstate Insurance | 290 F. Supp. 2d 1158 | 32 |
| 2008 | Mag Instrument, Inc. v. JS Products, Inc. | 595 F. Supp. 2d 1102 | 24 |
| 2006 | Trujillo v. City of Ontario | 428 F. Supp. 2d 1094 | 24 |
| 2011 | Salkin v. United Services Automobile Ass'n | 767 F. Supp. 2d 1062 | 15 |
| 2007 | True v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. | 520 F. Supp. 2d 1175 | 15 |
| 2000 | D.A.R.E. America v. Rolling Stone Magazine | 101 F. Supp. 2d 1270 | 13 |
| 2007 | Tenet Healthsystem Desert, Inc. v. Fortis Insurance | 520 F. Supp. 2d 1184 | 12 |
| 2010 | Greenwich Insurance v. Rodgers | 729 F. Supp. 2d 1158 | 11 |
| 2006 | Lisker v. Knowles | 463 F. Supp. 2d 1008 | 8 |
| 2003 | Federal Insurance v. Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. | 270 F. Supp. 2d 1183 | 7 |
| 2009 | Cervantez v. Celestica Corp. | 618 F. Supp. 2d 1208 | 5 |
| 2005 | Green v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada | 383 F. Supp. 2d 1224 | 5 |
| 2004 | Madsen v. Associated Chino Teachers | 317 F. Supp. 2d 1175 | 5 |
| 2011 | Link Treasure Ltd. v. Baby Trend, Inc. | 809 F. Supp. 2d 1191 | 4 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 24 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 Virginia A. Phillips?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Virginia A. Phillips to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 1999.
- Was Virginia A. Phillips appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Virginia A. Phillips was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Virginia A. Phillips's confirmation vote?
- Virginia A. Phillips was confirmed by voice vote on November 10, 1999. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Virginia A. Phillips on?
- Virginia A. Phillips is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- 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.
26 years on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).