Brian S. Meyers
How Judge Meyers rules, drawn from 2 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Meyers
Brian S. Meyers was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina in October 2020 and maintains chambers in Raleigh. He previously prosecuted federal cases as an Assistant United States Attorney and served as an officer and judge advocate in the Marine Corps. He earned degrees from Davidson College and the University of Richmond School of Law.
Judge Meyers's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Meyers, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Filing
The government must notify the court at least five calendar days before a covered misdemeanor proceeding if victim participation is anticipated.
“The attorney for the government shall file a notice with the court not less than five (5) calendar days prior to any proceeding as to whether participation by any victim or victims is anticipated.”
Motions
In covered misdemeanor cases, continuance requests generally must be filed at least seven calendar days before the scheduled date.
“Without extenuating circumstances, any request to continue a scheduled court date must be filed no later than seven (7) calendar days prior to the scheduled court date.”
Trial
For covered misdemeanor not-guilty pleas, counsel must be ready to propose mutually agreed trial dates.
“At the time of the entry of the not guilty plea, the attorney for the government and the defendant’s attorney shall be prepared to propose mutually agreed upon trial dates for the court’s consideration.”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Meyers decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a maritime injury case, he ordered production of vessel settlement records after the plaintiff narrowed the request to records relevant to lost earnings.
“Settlement records of the vessel on which plaintiff suffered his injury for a discrete period surrounding such injury are relevant to the question of what plaintiff's economic earnings would have been had he not been injured.”
In a Social Security appeal, he remanded because the agency judge had not explained whether the evidence required a limit on the claimant’s ability to turn his neck.
“the ALJ’s failure to include a limitation relating to Plaintiff’s ability to rotate and twist his neck or explain why no limitation was needed frustrates meaningful review by the court.”
Procedural preferences
In the maritime discovery dispute, he declined to shift expenses after considering how the parties handled the request and motion.
“Based on the circumstances, the court finds that an award of expenses would be unjust.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“plaintiff's motion to compel [DE-18] is ALLOWED IN PART with regard to the limited request for production, and DENIED IN PART with regard to the request for costs or attorneys' fees.”
“Plaintiff’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [DE-18] is GRANTED, Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [DE-20] is DENIED”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The subject-matter mix is observed rather than counted across the broader docket. The duration cohort is a true count only for the 10 groundable cases reviewed. Current enumeration also shows criminal-duty and miscellaneous assignments under Meyers's name through June 2026.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, not for Judge Meyers: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 1,130 | 8.3 months |
| Closed with no court action | 640 | 8.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 486 | 8.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 2 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 2 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,130 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,093 | 7.1 months |
| Sep 2023 | 967 | 9 months |
| Sep 2022 | 884 | 11.6 months |
| Sep 2021 | 864 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2020 | 802 | 8.8 months |
| Sep 2019 | 950 | 9.4 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Meyers with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Meyers, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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- Grounded in Judge Meyers's own signed orders
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