William Brevard Hand
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971 and confirmed by voice vote, William Brevard Hand was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. He earned a law degree from University of Alabama School of Law in 1949. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1924–2008
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1971
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Alabama 1947 · University of Alabama Law 1949
- Succeeded
- Daniel Holcombe Thomas
- Succeeded by
- Richard W. Vollmer Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Southern District of Alabama succeeded Daniel Holcombe Thomas | 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 Alabama | B.S. | 1947 |
| University of Alabama School of Law | LL.B. | 1949 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Hand was assigned 3,174 district-court cases (1980–2008). Median time from filing to termination: 228 days across 3,170 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 31 of Hand’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 25 were affirmed, 5 reversed or vacated, and 1 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, Hand authored 146 published opinions for the court (1971–2007). Most cited: Beech v. Apfel (35 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Beech v. Apfel | 100 F. Supp. 2d 1323 | 35 |
| 1986 | Robinson v. Quality Insurance | 633 F. Supp. 572 | 33 |
| 1982 | Donovan v. Daugherty | 550 F. Supp. 390 | 33 |
| 1983 | Ritter v. Smith | 568 F. Supp. 1499 | 32 |
| 1987 | Nalty v. Nalty Tree Farm | 654 F. Supp. 1315 | 30 |
| 1979 | Patel v. Holley House Motels | 483 F. Supp. 374 | 30 |
| 1981 | Oaks v. City of Fairhope, Ala. | 515 F. Supp. 1004 | 25 |
| 1978 | Blalock v. Perfect Subscription Co. | 458 F. Supp. 123 | 25 |
| 1983 | Jaffree v. Board of School Com'rs of Mobile County | 554 F. Supp. 1104 | 22 |
| 1996 | United States v. Olin Corp. | 927 F. Supp. 1502 | 21 |
| 1979 | Evans v. Birtton | 472 F. Supp. 707 | 20 |
| 1980 | United States v. Housing Authority of City of Chickasaw | 504 F. Supp. 716 | 17 |
| 1990 | Black v. Frank | 730 F. Supp. 1087 | 16 |
| 1994 | Garrett v. Clarke County Board of Education | 857 F. Supp. 949 | 15 |
| 1986 | Weeks v. Benton | 649 F. Supp. 1297 | 15 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 146 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 Brevard Hand?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed William Brevard Hand to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in 1971.
- Was William Brevard Hand appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Brevard Hand 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 Brevard Hand's confirmation vote?
- William Brevard Hand was confirmed by voice vote on September 21, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Brevard Hand on?
- William Brevard Hand was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
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.
36 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).