William Fremming Nielsen
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and confirmed by voice vote, William Fremming Nielsen is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. He earned a law degree from University of Washington School of Law in 1962. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1934 · age 92
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1991
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Washington 1956 · University of Washington Law 1962
- Succeeded
- Robert James McNichols
- Succeeded by
- Lonny R. Suko
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Eastern District of Washington succeeded Robert James McNichols | G.H.W. Bush (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.A. | 1956 |
| University of Washington School of Law | LL.B. | 1962 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Nielsen was assigned 1,569 district-court cases (1979–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 194 days across 1,569 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 50 of Nielsen’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 40 were affirmed, 8 reversed or vacated, and 2 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, Nielsen authored 22 published opinions for the court (1992–2007). Most cited: Auvil v. CBS \ (42 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Auvil v. CBS \ | 800 F. Supp. 928 | 42 |
| 2001 | Matthews v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n | 179 F. Supp. 2d 1209 | 14 |
| 2002 | City of Spokane v. United National Insurance | 190 F. Supp. 2d 1209 | 11 |
| 2007 | In Re Feature Realty Litigation | 634 F. Supp. 2d 1163 | 8 |
| 2000 | Flynn v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.(BNSF) | 98 F. Supp. 2d 1186 | 8 |
| 1992 | Public Hospital District No. 1 v. Sullivan | 806 F. Supp. 1478 | 7 |
| 1999 | Matthews v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n | 79 F. Supp. 2d 1199 | 6 |
| 1998 | Ziegler v. Ziegler | 28 F. Supp. 2d 601 | 6 |
| 1992 | United States v. Newell | 790 F. Supp. 1063 | 6 |
| 2000 | Herrera v. Singh | 103 F. Supp. 2d 1244 | 5 |
| 2002 | Cunningham v. City of Wenatchee | 214 F. Supp. 2d 1103 | 3 |
| 1993 | Auvil v. CBS \ | 836 F. Supp. 740 | 3 |
| 2003 | Lambert v. Blodgett | 248 F. Supp. 2d 988 | 2 |
| 1996 | Baker v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. | 951 F. Supp. 953 | 2 |
| 1992 | Inland Empire Public Lands Council v. Schultz | 807 F. Supp. 649 | 2 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 22 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 Fremming Nielsen?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed William Fremming Nielsen to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in 1991.
- Was William Fremming Nielsen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Fremming Nielsen was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Fremming Nielsen's confirmation vote?
- William Fremming Nielsen was confirmed by voice vote on May 9, 1991. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is William Fremming Nielsen on?
- William Fremming Nielsen is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern 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.
35 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).