William Lee Dwyer
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and confirmed by voice vote, William Lee Dwyer was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. He earned a law degree from New York University School of Law in 1953. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1929–2002
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1987
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Washington 1951 · New York Law 1953
- Succeeded
- Donald S. Voorhees
- Succeeded by
- Marsha J. Pechman
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Western District of Washington succeeded Donald S. Voorhees | Reagan (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.S. | 1951 |
| New York University School of Law | LL.B. | 1953 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Dwyer was assigned 3,879 district-court cases (1980–1999). Median time from filing to termination: 237 days across 3,878 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, Dwyer authored 38 published opinions for the court (1988–2000). Most cited: Seattle Audubon Society v. Lyons (61 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Seattle Audubon Society v. Lyons | 871 F. Supp. 1291 | 61 |
| 1994 | United States v. McCaslin | 863 F. Supp. 1299 | 40 |
| 1991 | Seattle Audubon Society v. Evans | 771 F. Supp. 1081 | 40 |
| 1991 | Kwan Fai Mak v. Blodgett | 754 F. Supp. 1490 | 37 |
| 1994 | Thorsted v. Gregoire | 841 F. Supp. 1068 | 33 |
| 1992 | Seattle Audubon Society v. Moseley | 798 F. Supp. 1473 | 24 |
| 1999 | Oregon Natural Resources Council Action v. United States Forest Service | 59 F. Supp. 2d 1085 | 23 |
| 1996 | Sprint Spectrum, L.P. v. City of Medina | 924 F. Supp. 1036 | 23 |
| 1997 | Pastor-Camarena v. Smith | 977 F. Supp. 1415 | 22 |
| 1996 | Idaho Sportsmen's Coalition v. Browner | 951 F. Supp. 962 | 21 |
| 1997 | US West Communications, Inc. v. TCG SEATTLE | 971 F. Supp. 1365 | 18 |
| 1997 | Doe v. Gregoire | 960 F. Supp. 1478 | 16 |
| 1990 | Cunningham v. Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle | 751 F. Supp. 885 | 14 |
| 1997 | GTE Northwest, Inc. v. Nelson | 969 F. Supp. 654 | 11 |
| 1999 | Prado Hernandez v. Reno | 86 F. Supp. 2d 1037 | 10 |
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 Lee Dwyer?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed William Lee Dwyer to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in 1987.
- Was William Lee Dwyer appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Lee Dwyer was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Lee Dwyer's confirmation vote?
- William Lee Dwyer was confirmed by voice vote on November 5, 1987. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Lee Dwyer on?
- William Lee Dwyer 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
- 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.
14 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).