Harold Brent McKnight
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 and confirmed by voice vote, Harold Brent McKnight was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. He earned a law degree from University of North Carolina School of Law in 1980. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1952–2004
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2003
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of North Carolina 1974 · University of North Carolina Law 1980
- Succeeded by
- Frank DeArmon Whitney
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Western District of North Carolina | G.W. Bush (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud — no senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
A per-senator roll-call isn’t shown for this confirmation. The Senate’s recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989; many confirmations (especially before then, and most to the lower courts) were by voice vote or unanimous consent.
Education
| University of North Carolina | B.A. | 1974 |
| University of Oxford, Magdalen College | M.A. | 1976 |
| University of North Carolina School of Law | J.D. | 1980 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, McKnight was assigned 1,078 district-court cases (1991–2004). Median time from filing to termination: 310 days across 1,078 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records — a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 66 of McKnight’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 62 were affirmed, 4 reversed or vacated. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match — not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, McKnight authored 14 published opinions for the court (1996–2004). Most cited: Vanwyk Textile Systems, B v. v. Zimmer MacHinery America, Inc. (62 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus — not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable — how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Vanwyk Textile Systems, B v. v. Zimmer MacHinery America, Inc. | 994 F. Supp. 350 | 62 |
| 2001 | In Re First Union Corp. Securities Litigation | 128 F. Supp. 2d 871 | 52 |
| 1998 | Bobbitt Ex Rel. Bobbitt v. Rage Inc. | 19 F. Supp. 2d 512 | 37 |
| 1998 | West v. Nationwide Credit, Inc. | 998 F. Supp. 642 | 13 |
| 1997 | Mom N Pops, Inc. v. City of Charlotte | 979 F. Supp. 372 | 13 |
| 2002 | Kling v. Harris Teeter Inc. | 338 F. Supp. 2d 667 | 10 |
| 2002 | Johnson v. City of Charlotte | 229 F. Supp. 2d 488 | 7 |
| 1996 | Honeycutt v. Tour Carriage, Inc. | 997 F. Supp. 694 | 7 |
| 2000 | In Re First Union Corp. Securities Litigation | 157 F. Supp. 2d 638 | 5 |
| 1996 | Andrews v. Crump | 984 F. Supp. 393 | 5 |
| 1998 | Paul Revere Life Insurance v. Forester | 32 F. Supp. 2d 352 | 2 |
| 2004 | United States v. Brooks | 324 F. Supp. 2d 784 | 0 |
| 2000 | Cabot Corp. v. Solution Technology, Inc. | 122 F. Supp. 2d 599 | 0 |
| 1998 | Dignity Viatical Settlement Partners v. Cedalion Systems, Inc. | 4 F. Supp. 2d 466 | 0 |
Showing the 14 most-cited of 14 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Harold Brent McKnight?
- President George W. Bush appointed Harold Brent McKnight to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in 2003.
- Was Harold Brent McKnight appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Harold Brent McKnight was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Harold Brent McKnight's confirmation vote?
- Harold Brent McKnight was confirmed by voice vote on July 31, 2003 — no senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Harold Brent McKnight on?
- Harold Brent McKnight was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project) — authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error — fixes are logged in the corrections log.
1 year on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Data as of 2026-07-06. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).