William Joseph Bauer
Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1974 and confirmed by voice vote, William Joseph Bauer was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He earned a law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1952. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1926–2025
- Appointed by
- Gerald Ford, 1974
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Elmhurst College 1949 · DePaul College of Law 1952
- Succeeded
- Otto Kerner Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Diane Pamela Wood
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Northern District of Illinois succeeded Joseph Samuel Perry | Nixon (R) | Voice vote |
| 1974 | Seventh Circuit succeeded Otto Kerner Jr. | Ford (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
| Elmhurst College | A.B. | 1949 |
| DePaul University College of Law | J.D. | 1952 |
Judicial Record
In our data, Bauer authored 561 published opinions for the court (1972–2020). Most cited: D. S. v. East Porter County School Corp (1,600 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | D. S. v. East Porter County School Corp | 799 F.3d 793 | 1,600 |
| 2019 | Bettie Burmester v. Nancy Berryhill | 920 F.3d 507 | 1,121 |
| 2014 | Patrick Camasta v. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. | 761 F.3d 732 | 794 |
| 2015 | Daniel Minnick v. Carolyn Colvin | 775 F.3d 929 | 592 |
| 2015 | Keith Curtis v. Costco Wholesale Corporation | 807 F.3d 215 | 347 |
| 2019 | James Pennewell v. James Parish | 923 F.3d 486 | 299 |
| 2016 | Mark Gekas v. Peter Vasiliades | 814 F.3d 890 | 225 |
| 2013 | Maurice Hardaway v. Brett Meyerhoff | 734 F.3d 740 | 224 |
| 2015 | George Dawson v. Michael Brown | 803 F.3d 829 | 171 |
| 2017 | Ruder M. Calderon-Ramirez v. James W. McCament | 877 F.3d 272 | 160 |
| 2020 | Elijah Manuel v. Nick Nalley | 966 F.3d 678 | 158 |
| 2017 | Groshek v. Time Warner Cable, Inc. | 865 F.3d 884 | 147 |
| 2019 | John Doe v. Columbia College Chicago | 933 F.3d 849 | 141 |
| 2014 | David Armato v. Randy Grounds | 766 F.3d 713 | 139 |
| 2017 | Sherwin Brook v. J. McCormley | 873 F.3d 549 | 138 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 561 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 William Joseph Bauer?
- President Gerald Ford appointed William Joseph Bauer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1974.
- Was William Joseph Bauer appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Joseph Bauer was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Joseph Bauer's confirmation vote?
- William Joseph Bauer was confirmed by voice vote on December 19, 1974. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Joseph Bauer on?
- William Joseph Bauer was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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50 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).