Norah McCann King
How Judge King rules, drawn from 33 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge King
Norah McCann King serves as a recalled United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Ohio. Appointed in 1982 as the district’s first female judge, she retired from active service in 2014. She also heard Social Security appeals by consent in the District of New Jersey until that assignment ended on April 18, 2026.
Judge King's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge King, as published on the court's website (checked October 10, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Discovery
Complete discovery before the court signs the final pretrial order unless there is good cause to leave it open.
“Except for good cause, all discovery must be completed before the final pretrial order is signed by the Court.”
Trial
List trial witnesses in the final pretrial order; other witnesses may testify only for impeachment or on a showing of good cause.
“Only witnesses listed in the Final Pretrial Order will be permitted to testify at the trial, except witnesses called solely for purpose of impeachment or for good cause shown.”
Trial
Include the exhibit list in the pretrial order before trial.
“The exhibit list must be prepared prior to trial and set forth in the pretrial order.”
Trial
An unlisted exhibit may be introduced only for impeachment or on a showing of good cause.
“Except for good cause shown, the Court will not permit the introduction of any exhibit not listed in the final pretrial order, with the exception of exhibits to be used solely for the purpose of impeachment.”
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).
- General Order 24-02 In Re: Procedures for Requesting, Filing, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- U.S. District Court General Order No. 24-05 ↗
- General Order 23-03 In Re: Automatic Sealing and Procedures for Unsealing of Applications for Search Warrants, Pen Registers, Trap and Trace Devices, or Court Orders Under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d). ↗
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court grants Plaintiff's Statement of Errors and reverses the Commissioner's decision and remands the action for clarification of Plaintiff's residual functional capacity.”
“the Court reverses the Commissioner's decision and remands the matter for further proceedings.”
“For the reasons that follow, the Court affirms the Commissioner's decision.”
“it is RECOMMENDED that the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security be REVERSED and that this action be REMANDED for further consideration of the medical necessity, if any, of plaintiff's use of a cane”
“For these reasons, the Court REVERSES the Commissioner's decision and REMANDS the matter for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion and Order.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Commissioner's decision is AFFIRMED pursuant to Sentence 4 of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).”
“For these reasons, the Court DENIES the Acting Commissioner's Motion for Reconsideration, ECF No. 26.”
“For the reasons that follow, the Court grants Plaintiff's Motion for Clarification, in part.”
“For the reasons that follow, the Court grants the Commissioner's motion, reverses the Commissioner's decision, and remands the matter to the Commissioner for further proceedings, including further fact finding.”
“For these reasons, the Court REVERSES the Commissioner's decision and REMANDS the matter for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion and Order.”
“For these reasons, the Court REVERSES the Commissioner's decision and REMANDS the matter for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion and Order.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Available recall decisions from Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, and New Jersey are dominated by Social Security disability appeals decided with the parties’ consent. Her New Jersey assignment ended in April 2026. This targeted sample cannot establish a distribution across those courts.
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 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, not for Judge King: 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 | 2,199 | 9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,037 | 7.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 810 | 7.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 343 | 15.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 9 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,199 | 9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,137 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,153 | 9.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,311 | 12.6 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,287 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,012 | 9.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 5,561 | 41.6 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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