Kevin F. McDonald
How Judge McDonald rules, drawn from 4 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge McDonald
Kevin F. McDonald is a United States magistrate judge for the District of South Carolina, based in Greenville. He was reappointed to an eight-year term effective June 1, 2018, and remains on the court’s magistrate bench.
Judge McDonald's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge McDonald, 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
Omit signature and date blocks from proposed orders.
“do not include signature or date block on proposed order.”
Motions
File extension motions before the current deadline; same-day motions require extraordinary circumstances.
“Motions for extension of time should not be filed on the date of the current deadline. Motions filed on the date of the current deadline will be denied barring a showing of extraordinary circumstances.”
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 McDonald decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Bacchus, McDonald recommended summary judgment for prison officers on a prisoner’s excessive-force claims. The district judge adopted the recommendation after applying the Whitley force factors and finding no malicious or sadistic use of force.
“Magistrate Judge McDonald recommends granting Defendants’ motion for summary judgment and denying Bacchus’ motion for entry of default.”
Procedural preferences
In Schaefer v. Fluor Enterprises, Inc., McDonald recommended denying a Rule 4(m) service dismissal; the district judge declined to adopt that recommendation and dismissed the complaint without prejudice.
“The Report recommends denying Defendant's Motion to Dismiss. However, the Court declines to adopt the Report and grants the Motion to Dismiss for the reasons discussed herein.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Report recommends denying Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss.”
Serial pro se patent plaintiff Larry Golden v. Google (three patents). McDonald's first recommendation (April 9, 2021) recommended dismissal, was adopted November 2, 2021, then vacated and remanded by the Federal Circuit (the allegations were not facially frivolous). On remand his operative recommendation (November 14, 2022) recommended dismissal without prejudice as duplicative of Golden's parallel N.D. Cal. case; Judge Dawson adopted it without objection. As a screening dismissal it resolved no pending party motion.
Pro se prisoner 1983 civil-rights complaint. McDonald's recommendation (December 3, 2024) recommended summary screening dismissal under 1915/1915A with prejudice, without issuance and service of process; District Judge Austin accepted it and dismissed with prejudice. As a screening dismissal it resolved no pending party motion. The recommendation is not separately available in the record; it is grounded through Austin's adoption order.
“ORDERED that Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, docket number 38, is granted.”
“ORDERED that Bacchus’ motion for entry of default, docket number 83, is denied.”
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 | 1 |
| 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 District of South Carolina, not for Judge McDonald: 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 | 2,805 | 7.8 months |
| Closed with no court action | 724 | 5.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,005 | 8.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 64 | 17.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 12 | 36 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,805 | 7.8 months |
| Sep 2024 | 5,800 | 12.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,296 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,364 | 9.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,599 | 10 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,190 | 10.1 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,402 | 9.8 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 McDonald with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge McDonald, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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