Richard Ernest Myers II
How Judge Myers rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Myers
Richard Ernest Myers, II is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Myers received a commission on December 10, 2019.
Judge Myers's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Myers, 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.
- Practice Preferences and Procedures ↗
- 22-JP-1-M: Visual Materials in Jury Trials ↗
- 22-JP-2-M: Special Appearances of Counsel ↗
- 22-JP-3-M: High-Attendance Proceedings at the Wilmington Courthouse ↗
Key rules
Filing
A motion to amend a pleading must attach both the proposed pleading and a redline.
“Any motion seeking to amend a pleading shall include as exhibits both the proposed amended pleading and a red-lined version of the proposed amended pleading showing changes proposed to be made. The proposed pleading must be properly signed.”
Filing
Most motions seeking relief must include a proposed order and counsel must send its Word version to the judge’s designated email address.
“Any motion requesting relief (except dispositive motions and, in criminal cases, motions to continue, seal, and withdraw) shall be accompanied at the time of filing with a proposed form of order, stating its requested relief. Along with submitting proposed orders in PDF format through the CM/ECF system, counsel shall submit proposed orders electronically in Word format to: [email protected] (this email address is receipt only).”
Filing
Counsel appearing by special appearance may have to show cause within 14 days if the court identifies a local-rule violation.
“Upon the filing of this order. counsel appearing by special appearance shall show cause within fourteen (14) days of the date of entry of the order why counsel should not be removed from the case for violation of the court's Local Rules.”
Motions
Motion briefs must cite the relevant exhibit, page, and line numbers.
“When referring to the record in the briefing on any motion, counsel must specify the relevant exhibit, page, and line numbers.”
Motions
Before filing a motion, the movant must confer with opposing counsel and state the effort and opposing position in the motion.
“Before filing a motion, the movant must confer with the opposing party regarding the relief requested and must note in the motion the movant’s efforts to confer and the opposing party’s position on the requested relief (i.e., opposed, unopposed, none).”
Motions
Criminal motions to continue generally must be filed at least three business days before the first day of the scheduled court term.
“Motions to continue, either by attorneys or the United States Probation Office, must be filed at least three (3) business days prior to the first day of the term of court in which the proceeding is scheduled, absent exigent circumstances.”
Trial
Counsel must prepare two tabbed notebooks of trial exhibits for the court and staff.
“The parties must prepare two tabbed notebooks containing trial exhibits for the court and its staff.”
Trial
Unadmitted or unstipulated demonstrative exhibits in jury-trial opening or closing require advance court approval after opposing counsel may comment.
“Display of any other demonstrative exhibits during opening statements- including charts, graphs, timelines, and other summaries of already-admitted documents or testimony- requires approval by the court after an opportunity for comment by opposing counsel.”
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 Myers decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In IngenioShare v. Epic Games, Myers found the asserted patent claims ineligible under Section 101, determined that claim construction was unnecessary, and dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice.
“Finally, the court determines that no claim construction is needed. Thus, the motion [DE 25] is granted.”
In United States v. Ochoa, Myers denied the motion to suppress after finding that the officer's mistaken visual estimate of illegal window tint was reasonable under the circumstances.
“The court concludes that Budden' s mistake was that of a reasonable man.”
Procedural preferences
In Mynhier v. Wake County Board of Education, Myers reviewed the parents’ specific objections to recommended attorney hourly rates, considered the declarations and comparable awards, and overruled the objections. He adopted the recommended rates and awarded $164,615.34 in fees and costs.
“Absent a specific and timely objection, the court reviews only for ‘clear error’ and need not give any explanation for adopting the recommendation.”
In Gilmore, he gave a plaintiff 21 days to submit an amended complaint identifying each defendant and the conduct that caused harm.
“Plaintiff shall have 21 days from the date of entry of this order in which to file an amended complaint (1) identifying each and every defendant, and (2) alleging what each defendant did to cause her harm;”
Cautions
In Mack v. East Carolina University, Myers found allegations that two university supervisors permitted discrimination insufficient to plead their own conduct under Section 1983 and held they were entitled to qualified immunity.
“Without more, the court finds Hayes and Rogers are entitled to qualified immunity.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons explained below, North Carolina's motion to dismiss is GRANTED.”
“Accordingly, the court GRANTS Defendants' motion to dismiss [DE 10] and directs the Clerk of Court to close this case.”
“ORDER denying 64 Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction as to Charles Anthony Pittman. Signed by Chief Judge Richard E. Myers II on 4/27/2022.”
“This matter comes before the court on Defendant's motion to suppress, filed March 15, 2021. [DE-33] For the reasons that follow, Defendant's motion is DENIED.”
“The Board's Motion for Judgment on the Administrative Record [DE 26] is DENIED, and Plaintiffs' Motion to Approve Attorney's Fees and Costs [DE 29] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“For the reasons described below, Halcyon's Motion is GRANTED and Echelon's Motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“Accordingly, the Center's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 26] is DENIED, and the Departments' Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 30] is GRANTED.”
“Based on the foregoing, the court GRANTS Defendant's motion to dismiss [DE 25]. Plaintiff's first amended complaint is dismissed with prejudice.”
“motion to amend the complaint [DE 25] is GRANTED.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss [DE-10] is DENIED AS MOOT without prejudice.”
“For the reasons described herein, Plaintiff's objection is overruled, and his motions are denied.”
“Defendant's motion to dismiss [DE 59] is GRANTED.”
“the court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the motion to dismiss [DE 78].”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 175 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 121.5 days (N = 2).
- Nature-of-suit mix observed across the enumerated dockets (2017-2021, both name-string forms).
- Myers's enumeration is dominated by prisoner-petition and habeas matters ('...-ct-...' prison-conditions/1983, '...-hc-...' 2241/2254 habeas, Section 2255): a large share inherited from the seat that had been vacant since 2005 (Malcolm J.
- Howard's senior-status docket) and terminated by Myers in 2020-2021.
- Alongside that runs general civil litigation: Social Security appeals (Worsham, Miller, Partin), insurance/diversity contract (Hill, Prosser, Sports Endeavors, Sterling Pharma), employment / civil rights (Harrison v. Syneos Health, Mack v. ECU, Yates v. Town of Wallace, Launching Pad v. Cooper, Johnson v. YPS), and civil drug-forfeiture in-rem cases (US v. $112,570 Currency).
- He also draws high-profile civil-rights/elections matters (e.g. North Carolina Democratic Party v. NC State Board of Elections, 5:24-cv-00699).
- Note: an administrative/observational mix from a thin enumeration, not an authoritative caseload baseline.
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 | 46 |
| 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 | 140 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 46 | 140 |
| Sep 2025 | 33 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 10 | 6 |
| Sep 2024 | 14 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 3 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 10 | 2 |
| Sep 2022 | 16 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 6 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 3 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 9 | 1 |
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 Myers: 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 Myers with the record in hand
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