Who appointed William W Schwarzer?

President Gerald Ford appointed William W Schwarzer to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1976.

Was William W Schwarzer appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

William W Schwarzer was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was William W Schwarzer's confirmation vote?

William W Schwarzer was confirmed by voice vote on July 23, 1976. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Northern District of California / Appointed 1976 / Served to 2017

William W Schwarzer

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1976 and confirmed by voice vote, William W Schwarzer was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1951. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1925–2017
Appointed by: Gerald Ford, 1976
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Southern California 1948 · Harvard Law School 1951
Succeeded: Albert Charles Wollenberg
Succeeded by: Barbara A. Caulfield

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1976	Northern District of California succeeded Albert Charles Wollenberg	Ford (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	A.B.	1948
Harvard Law School	LL.B.	1951

Judicial Record

In our data, Schwarzer authored 143 published opinions for the court (1976–2007). Most cited: James v. United States (62 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1980	James v. United States	483 F. Supp. 581	62
1979	Murphy Tugboat Co. v. Shipowners & Merchants Towboat Co.	467 F. Supp. 841	60
1996	Kendall v. Sorani (In Re Richmond Produce Co.)	195 B.R. 455	50
1981	Salveson v. Western States Bankcard Ass'n	525 F. Supp. 566	49
1978	Hofmayer v. Dean Witter & Co., Inc.	459 F. Supp. 733	40
1981	In Re Airport Car Rental Antitrust Litigation	521 F. Supp. 568	39
1986	Southern Pacific Transportation Co. v. Public Utilities Commission	647 F. Supp. 1220	38
1984	Baker v. Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp.	608 F. Supp. 1315	38
1984	Franklet v. United States	578 F. Supp. 1552	38
1980	Goldberg v. CPC International, Inc.	495 F. Supp. 233	38
1987	Knecht v. City of Redwood City	683 F. Supp. 1307	35
1984	Huettig & Schromm, Inc. v. Landscape Contractors Council	582 F. Supp. 1519	33
1987	Gerrard v. United States Office of Education	656 F. Supp. 570	32
1984	Wilcox v. Ho-Wing Sit	586 F. Supp. 561	32
1986	Ackerman v. Western Elec. Co., Inc.	643 F. Supp. 836	31

Showing the 15 most-cited of 143 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 W Schwarzer?: President Gerald Ford appointed William W Schwarzer to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1976.
Was William W Schwarzer appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: William W Schwarzer was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was William W Schwarzer's confirmation vote?: William W Schwarzer was confirmed by voice vote on July 23, 1976. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was William W Schwarzer on?: William W Schwarzer was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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40 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).