Southern District of Florida / Appointed 1985 / Senior status since 2017

William J. Zloch

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, William J. Zloch is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from Notre Dame Law School in 1974. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born
1944 · age 82
Appointed by
Ronald Reagan, 1985
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
University of Notre Dame 1966 · Notre Dame Law School 1974

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1985Southern District of FloridaReagan (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

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Zloch was assigned 9,994 district-court cases (1982–2019). Median time from filing to termination: 165 days across 9,988 closed cases.

Contract21%
Civil rights17%
Prisoner & habeas16%
Labor & ERISA13%
Other federal statutes10%
Personal-injury torts8%
Other15%

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 271 of Zloch’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 223 were affirmed, 32 reversed or vacated, and 16 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, Zloch authored 84 published opinions for the court (1986–2011). Most cited: United States v. Lowery (22 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1998United States v. Lowery15 F. Supp. 2d 134822
1994Kelly v. K.D. Construction of Florida, Inc.866 F. Supp. 140617
1990Harvey v. United States730 F. Supp. 109716
1989INTERN. CAUCUS OF LABOR COM. v. Dade County, Fla.724 F. Supp. 91716
2009Gossard v. JP Morgan Chase & Co.612 F. Supp. 2d 124213
2003Autonation, Inc. v. Whitlock276 F. Supp. 2d 125813
1986Polo Fashions, Inc. v. Rabanne661 F. Supp. 8912
2009Carolina Acquisition, LLC v. Double Billed, LLC627 F. Supp. 2d 133711
2008Godoy v. New River Pizza, Inc.565 F. Supp. 2d 134511
2003Parness v. Metropolitan Life Insurance291 F. Supp. 2d 134711
1987Neurological Associates-H. Hooshmand, M.D., P.A. v. Bowen658 F. Supp. 46811
2009Vallecillo v. Wall to Wall Residence Repairs, Inc.595 F. Supp. 2d 13749
2008United States v. Myers591 F. Supp. 2d 13129
1999Rocky v. Columbia Lawnwood Regional Medical Center54 F. Supp. 2d 11598
1987Hill v. General Motors Corp.654 F. Supp. 618

Showing the 15 most-cited of 84 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 J. Zloch?
President Ronald Reagan appointed William J. Zloch to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1985.
Was William J. Zloch appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
William J. Zloch was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was William J. Zloch's confirmation vote?
William J. Zloch was confirmed by voice vote on November 1, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is William J. Zloch on?
William J. Zloch is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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 Southern District of Florida. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).