James Burton Loken (born May 21, 1940) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He was appointed in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush, and served as the Eighth Circuit's chief judge from 2003 to 2010.
James B. Loken
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Born 1940 in Madison, WI
FJC ID: 1413
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 53/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 754/year
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1990–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 2003–2010
- Private practice, Minneapolis, Minnesota1967–1970, 1973–1990
- President Richard M. NixonStaff assistant · 1970–1972
- President's Committee on Consumer InterestsGeneral counsel · 1970
Law clerk , Hon. Byron White · 1966–1967
Law clerk , Hon. J. Edward Lumbard · 1965–1966
Appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth CircuitChief Judge1990–present · Appointed by George H.W. Bush (Republican)
Education
LL.B. · 1965- University of WisconsinB.S. · 1962