Northern District of Texas / Appointed 1966 / Served to 1985

William McLaughlin Taylor Jr.

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

Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 and confirmed by voice vote, William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law (now Dedman School of Law) in 1932. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1909–1985
Appointed by
Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Southern Methodist Law (now Dedman School of Law) 1932
Succeeded by
Jerry Buchmeyer

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1966Northern District of TexasL.B. Johnson (D)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

Judicial Record

In our data, Taylor authored 114 published opinions for the court (1966–1983). Most cited: Smotherman v. Beto (33 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1967Smotherman v. Beto276 F. Supp. 57933
1971Brown v. Ballas331 F. Supp. 103329
1973City of Dallas, Texas v. Southwest Airlines Company371 F. Supp. 101528
1966Ferrell v. Dallas Independent School District261 F. Supp. 54528
1974Tubin v. Rabin389 F. Supp. 78727
1967Grundstrom v. Beto273 F. Supp. 91226
1976Tasby v. Estes412 F. Supp. 119225
1967Hennig v. Gardner276 F. Supp. 62225
1973Dresser Industries, Inc. v. Insurance Co. of North America358 F. Supp. 32724
1971Ware v. Estes328 F. Supp. 65723
1979Associated Aviation Underwriters v. United States462 F. Supp. 67422
1977Rogers v. Frito-Lay, Inc.433 F. Supp. 20021
1972Clark v. Campbell341 F. Supp. 17119
1971Tasby v. Estes342 F. Supp. 94518
1970Southern v. Board of Trustees for the Dallas Independent School District318 F. Supp. 35518

Showing the 15 most-cited of 114 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 McLaughlin Taylor Jr.?
President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in 1966.
Was William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was William McLaughlin Taylor Jr.'s confirmation vote?
William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on July 22, 1966. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. on?
William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Sources

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

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