Terrence William Boyle
How Judge Boyle rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Boyle
Terrence William Boyle is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Boyle received a commission on May 3, 1984.
Judge Boyle's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Boyle, 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 ↗
- 02-JP-1-BO: Civil Trial Scheduling ↗
- 08-JP-1-BO: Criminal Continuances ↗
- 11-JP-3-BO: Pro Se Filings by Represented Criminal Defendants ↗
- 12-JP-1-BO: Civil Commitment Procedures ↗
- 16-JP-1-BO: Social Security Appeal Representation ↗
- 17-JP-1-BO: Victim Participation Notice in Criminal Cases ↗
- 22-JP-1-BO: Special Appearance of Counsel ↗
- 23-JP-1-BO: Video Depositions in Civil Trials ↗
Key rules
Filing
Documents of at least 20 pages, including exhibits, require a courtesy copy.
“The filer shall provide a courtesy copy of all documents containing twenty (20) or more pages, including attachments or exhibits.”
Filing
A represented criminal defendant’s pro se motion other than a motion for new counsel will receive no action unless counsel refiles it electronically.
“Other than a motion for new counsel, any pro se document submitted by a defendant who has appointed or retained counsel will be entered on the docket in the Case Management - Electronic Filing System (CM/ECF) by the clerk’s office, but no further action will be taken on the document unless it is re-filed electronically by the defendant’s counsel of record.”
Filing
Counsel appearing by special appearance may be ordered to show cause within 14 days after a local-rule violation is identified.
“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
A criminal continuance motion must include a proposed order with the prescribed good-cause language.
“any party seeking a continuance from a scheduled session of court shall file a motion to continue and a proposed order that contains the following language: ‘For good cause shown, [ ]’s Motion to Continue is hereby GRANTED and this matter is continued to the term of court.’”
Trial
The court may schedule a civil trial 30 days after the dispositive-motion deadline.
“the court will reserve the right to schedule the case for trial thirty (30) days after the deadline for filing dispositive pretrial motions.”
Trial
The government must notify the court at least ten days before a criminal proceeding if victim participation is anticipated.
“the government shall notify the Court not less than ten (10) days prior to any proceeding as to whether participation by any victim or victims is anticipated.”
Trial
Video deposition testimony in civil trials requires a specific court order; witnesses must be subpoenaed at least 14 calendar days before the trial term.
“video deposition testimony is prohibited unless specifically allowed by order of this Court. Counsel must subpoena all witnesses at least fourteen (14) calendar days before the first day of the trial term during which the case has been calendared.”
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 Boyle decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Red Wolf Coalition v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Boyle granted conservation plaintiffs summary judgment on their remaining ESA and NEPA claims after finding that the agency’s lethal take authorizations violated its red wolf rule and that its actions failed applicable environmental review requirements. He dismissed a separate claim as moot.
“Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment [DE 79] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Plaintiffs' third claim for relief is DISMISSED as MOOT, and plaintiffs' are entitled to summary judgment in their favor on their remaining claims.”
In Lewis v. High Point Regional Health System, Boyle denied the employer's motion to dismiss a transgender applicant's Title VII claim and denied the applicant's own summary judgment motion because she had not yet produced evidence of intentional discrimination.
“For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motion to dismiss [DE 12] and plaintiffs motion for summary judgment [DE 18] are DENIED.”
In one service-agreement dispute, Judge Boyle granted partial summary judgment against a counterclaim that relied on access to confidential files without evidence that the files were disclosed. The underlying contract claim remained for trial.
“showing access is not the same as showing disclosure.”
Cautions
In Harty v. Luihn Four, Boyle dismissed an ADA access suit for lack of standing. The plaintiff had visited the restaurant once, lived more than 700 miles away, and alleged no definite plan to return.
“the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiffs Claims are DISMISSED in their entirety.”
In Anderson v. Amazon.com Services LLC, Boyle granted the employer’s summary judgment motion after finding that the plaintiff had not supported her discrimination and retaliation claims with a prima facie showing. Her opposition did not address several arguments about adverse action and comparators, and it also left a hostile work environment argument unanswered.
“Plaintiff's response in opposition [DE 109] failed to address and waived these issues.”
Repeated refusal to participate in discovery can produce dismissal with prejudice under Rule 37. In Koukuntla, Boyle found bad faith, prejudice, a need for deterrence, and that lesser sanctions would be ineffective after ignored orders, a missed deposition, and duplicative filings.
“Accordingly, the Court deems dismissal with prejudice the appropriate sanction for plaintiff's conduct in this case.”
In a repeat employment dispute, Judge Boyle applied claim preclusion to claims arising from a workplace event litigated two decades earlier. The order also found the remaining civil-rights theory untimely or inadequately pleaded.
“the doctrine of res judicata bars plaintiffs' claims.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motion to dismiss is DENIED. The matter may proceed in its entirety.”
“For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motion to dismiss [DE 12] and plaintiffs motion for summary judgment [DE 18] are DENIED.”
“Accordingly, defendant's motion to dismiss [DE 14] is GRANTED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment accordingly and to close the file.”
“For the following reasons, defendant's motion is granted in part and denied in part.”
“Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment [DE 79] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Plaintiffs' third claim for relief is DISMISSED as MOOT, and plaintiffs' are entitled to summary judgment in their favor on their remaining claims.”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment [DE 85] is GRANTED IN PART as to plaintiffs' third claim for relief and DENIED IN PART as to plaintiffs' remaining claims.”
“defendants' motion to stay the answer deadline [DE 11] and first motion to dismiss [DE 13] are DENIED AS MOOT”
“defendants' second motion to dismiss [DE 20] is GRANTED, and the motions to seal [DE 15, 22, 27] are GRANTED.”
“the Protective Defendants' motion [DE 61] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“BST and Pittman's motion [DE 58] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“Plaintiffs' motion [DE 63] is DENIED.”
“the court grants Wake County's motion for summary judgment solely as to count five of the complaint ... and denies the remaining motions.”
“the court grants Wake County's motion for summary judgment solely as to count five ... and denies the remaining motions.”
“the court ... denies the remaining motions.”
“the court grants ... Buckner's motion to withdraw”
“defendant's motion to dismiss [DE 13] is GRANTED. As this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to consider plaintiff's complaint”
“the motion for temporary restraining order [DE 2] is DENIED.”
“The Court grants Defendant Summary Judgment.”
“This matter is before the Court on both parties' Motions for Summary Judgment. The Defendant's Motion is GRANTED.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment. Defendants' Motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiffs Claims are DISMISSED in their entirety.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 378 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 154 days (N = 7).
- Nature-of-suit mix observed across the filed-2021 enumeration and the June-2026 pending window.
- Like the E.D.N.C. docket generally, Boyle's enumeration carries a large prisoner-petition / habeas component ('...-ct-...' prison-conditions/1983, '...-hc-...' 2241/2254 habeas: E.D.N.C. houses FCI Butner, driving a heavy federal civil-commitment/habeas caseload) and criminal ('...-cr-...') matters, alongside general civil litigation: Social Security disability appeals (Jenkins/Snider v. Kijakazi), civil rights / employment (Chestnutt v. Town of Ahoskie Title VII sex discrimination), patent (Lenovo v. Liberty Patents), diversity personal-injury / wrongful death (DeMontpellier v. Chicamacomico Banks Fire Dept, tried to a jury), insurance/product-liability, and consumer-protection / debt-collection (June-2026: Vanhoozier v. American Coradius (FDCPA), Hannan v. Carmax, Moran v. Riccobene DDS).
- Note: an observational mix from thin enumerated windows, 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 | 1 |
| 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 | 122 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 122 |
| Sep 2025 | 6 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 2 | 1 |
| 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 Boyle: 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).
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