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William Jay Riley

William Jay Riley

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals

Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Born 1947 in Lincoln, NE

Died 2023

FJC ID: 2891

Career output and lasting influence

Opinions attributed per year · peak 28/year

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals · 2001–20232001201020202025280
opinions

Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 477/year

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals · 2001–202320012010202020254770
citing decisions

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals · 2001–2023

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.

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William Jay Riley (March 11, 1947 – January 27, 2023) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Full biography on Wikipedia ↗
Gender
Male
Race
White

Prior employment

  1. Creighton University College of Law
    Creighton University College of Law
    Adjunct professor · 1991–present
  2. Judicial Conference of the United States
    Member · 2010–2017
  3. Private practice, Nebraska
    1973–2001
  4. United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
    United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
    Law clerk , Hon. Donald Lay · 1972–1973

Appointments

  1. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth CircuitChief Judge
    2001–2023 · Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
    Term ended: Death

Education

  1. University of Nebraska College of Law
    J.D. · 1972
  2. University of Nebraska
    B.A. · 1969