William Matthew Byrne Jr.
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971 and confirmed by voice vote, William Matthew Byrne Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He earned a law degree from University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) in 1956. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1930–2006
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1971
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Southern California 1953 · University of Southern California Law School (now Gould Law) 1956
- Succeeded by
- Virginia A. Phillips
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Central District of California | 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 Southern California | B.S. | 1953 |
| University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) | LL.B. | 1956 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Byrne was assigned 2,308 district-court cases (1978–2005). Median time from filing to termination: 185 days across 2,307 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.
In our data, Byrne authored 38 published opinions for the court (1977–2005). Most cited: Glendale Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Fox (46 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Glendale Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Fox | 459 F. Supp. 903 | 46 |
| 1998 | Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc. | 28 F. Supp. 2d 1120 | 31 |
| 1979 | Glendale Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Fox | 481 F. Supp. 616 | 27 |
| 1981 | In Re Pago Pago Aircrash of January 30, 1974 | 525 F. Supp. 1007 | 24 |
| 1981 | American Re-Insurance Co. v. INSURANCE COM'N, ETC. | 527 F. Supp. 444 | 21 |
| 1980 | Jervis v. Elerding | 504 F. Supp. 606 | 21 |
| 1993 | Transp. Leasing Co. v. State of Cal.(CalTrans) | 861 F. Supp. 931 | 19 |
| 1979 | In Re Vescovo Special Grand Jury | 473 F. Supp. 1335 | 19 |
| 1979 | People of California v. Glendale Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n | 475 F. Supp. 728 | 17 |
| 2002 | Walker v. Boeing Corp. | 218 F. Supp. 2d 1177 | 15 |
| 1978 | CARPENTERS PENSION TRUST, ETC. v. Kronschnabel | 460 F. Supp. 978 | 14 |
| 1978 | Southland Corp. v. Estridge | 456 F. Supp. 1296 | 14 |
| 1981 | Nodleman v. Aero Mexico | 528 F. Supp. 475 | 13 |
| 1979 | In Re Ridill | 1 B.R. 216 | 13 |
| 1977 | Pacific Coast Medical Enterprises v. Califano | 440 F. Supp. 296 | 13 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 38 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 Matthew Byrne Jr.?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed William Matthew Byrne Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 1971.
- Was William Matthew Byrne Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Matthew Byrne Jr. was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Matthew Byrne Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- William Matthew Byrne Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on May 20, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Matthew Byrne Jr. on?
- William Matthew Byrne Jr. was 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
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Administrative Office of the United States Courts (The Third Branch newsletter) (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.
34 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).