William Duffy Keller
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and confirmed by voice vote, William Duffy Keller was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He earned a law degree from University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law in 1960. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1934–2025
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1984
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of California, Berkeley 1956 · University of California, Los Angeles, Law 1960
- Succeeded by
- Robert Gary Klausner
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Central District of California | 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 California, Berkeley | B.S. | 1956 |
| University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law | LL.B. | 1960 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Keller was assigned 4,324 district-court cases (1984–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 216 days across 4,314 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 54 of Keller’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 44 were affirmed, 4 reversed or vacated, and 6 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, Keller authored 14 published opinions for the court (1986–1998). Most cited: United States Ex Rel. Stillwell v. Hughes Helicopters, Inc. (28 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | United States Ex Rel. Stillwell v. Hughes Helicopters, Inc. | 714 F. Supp. 1084 | 28 |
| 1998 | Dunhall Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Discus Dental, Inc. | 994 F. Supp. 1202 | 21 |
| 1988 | Periera v. Chapman | 92 B.R. 903 | 19 |
| 1986 | Federal Sav. and Loan Ins. Corp. v. Sajovich | 642 F. Supp. 74 | 15 |
| 1994 | Trenton v. Infinity Broadcasting Corp. | 865 F. Supp. 1416 | 13 |
| 1997 | Doucette v. City of Santa Monica | 955 F. Supp. 1192 | 11 |
| 1990 | Federal Deposit Insurance Ex Rel. FSLIC Resolution Fund v. Israel | 739 F. Supp. 1411 | 8 |
| 1987 | Dollar Systems, Inc. v. Avcar Leasing System, Inc. | 673 F. Supp. 1493 | 8 |
| 1991 | United States v. Johnson | 762 F. Supp. 275 | 7 |
| 1988 | Federal Sav. and Loan Ins. Corp. v. Israel | 686 F. Supp. 819 | 4 |
| 1990 | United States v. Andonian | 735 F. Supp. 1469 | 3 |
| 1992 | Sunbelt Television, Inc. v. Jones Intercable, Inc. | 795 F. Supp. 333 | 1 |
| 1986 | In Re Bankamerica Securities Litigation | 636 F. Supp. 419 | 1 |
| 1989 | Griffith v. Martech International, Inc. | 754 F. Supp. 166 | 0 |
Showing the 14 most-cited of 14 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 Duffy Keller?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed William Duffy Keller to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 1984.
- Was William Duffy Keller appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Duffy Keller was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Duffy Keller's confirmation vote?
- William Duffy Keller was confirmed by voice vote on October 3, 1984. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Duffy Keller on?
- William Duffy Keller 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
- 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.
41 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).