Walter Thomas McGovern
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971 and confirmed by voice vote, Walter Thomas McGovern was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. He earned a law degree from University of Washington School of Law in 1950. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1922–2021
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1971
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Washington 1949 · University of Washington Law 1950
- Succeeded
- William James Lindberg
- Succeeded by
- Thomas Samuel Zilly
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Western District of Washington succeeded William James Lindberg | Nixon (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
| University of Washington | B.A. | 1949 |
| University of Washington School of Law | LL.B. | 1950 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, McGovern was assigned 949 district-court cases (1976–2020). Median time from filing to termination: 337 days across 949 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 48 of McGovern’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 37 were affirmed, 9 reversed or vacated, and 2 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, McGovern authored 35 published opinions for the court (1979–2001). Most cited: United States v. Western Processing Co., Inc. (43 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | United States v. Western Processing Co., Inc. | 734 F. Supp. 930 | 43 |
| 1988 | Grotting v. Hudson Shipbuilders, Inc. | 85 B.R. 568 | 21 |
| 1986 | Lopez v. Johns Manville | 649 F. Supp. 149 | 19 |
| 1985 | West v. Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. | 623 F. Supp. 26 | 19 |
| 1991 | United States v. Western Processing Co., Inc. | 756 F. Supp. 1416 | 17 |
| 1991 | United States v. Western Processing Co., Inc. | 761 F. Supp. 713 | 16 |
| 1988 | O'HALLORAN v. University of Washington | 679 F. Supp. 997 | 14 |
| 1988 | Washington Insurance Guaranty Ass'n v. Guaranty National Insurance | 685 F. Supp. 1160 | 12 |
| 1990 | United States v. Western Processing Co., Inc. | 751 F. Supp. 902 | 10 |
| 1990 | United States v. Western Processing Co., Inc. | 756 F. Supp. 1424 | 10 |
| 1987 | Garnett v. Renton School District No. 403 | 675 F. Supp. 1268 | 9 |
| 1984 | United States v. Hicks | 587 F. Supp. 1162 | 9 |
| 1989 | Veeder v. NC MacHinery Co. | 720 F. Supp. 847 | 8 |
| 1986 | Pacific Resins and Chemicals Inc. v. United States | 654 F. Supp. 249 | 8 |
| 1991 | Cello-Whitney v. Hoover | 769 F. Supp. 1155 | 7 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 35 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 Walter Thomas McGovern?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Walter Thomas McGovern to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in 1971.
- Was Walter Thomas McGovern appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Walter Thomas McGovern was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Walter Thomas McGovern's confirmation vote?
- Walter Thomas McGovern was confirmed by voice vote on April 21, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Walter Thomas McGovern on?
- Walter Thomas McGovern was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (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.
50 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).