Lacy Herman Thornburg
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by voice vote, Lacy Herman Thornburg 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 1954. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1929 · age 97
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1995
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of North Carolina 1952 · University of North Carolina Law 1954
- Succeeded
- Robert Daniel Potter
- Succeeded by
- Max Oliver Cogburn Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Western District of North Carolina succeeded Robert Daniel Potter | Clinton (D) | 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.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Thornburg was assigned 3,063 district-court cases (1986–2009). Median time from filing to termination: 154 days across 3,062 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 383 of Thornburg’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 326 were affirmed, 37 reversed or vacated, and 20 affirmed in part and reversed in part. 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, Thornburg authored 188 published opinions for the court (1995–2009). Most cited: Jackson v. Blue Dolphin Communications of North Carolina, L.L.C. (34 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Jackson v. Blue Dolphin Communications of North Carolina, L.L.C. | 226 F. Supp. 2d 785 | 34 |
| 2003 | Strawbridge v. Sugar Mountain Resort, Inc. | 243 F. Supp. 2d 472 | 33 |
| 2004 | Bradley v. Ramsey | 329 F. Supp. 2d 617 | 32 |
| 2000 | Darity v. United States | 124 F. Supp. 2d 355 | 25 |
| 2002 | UBS PaineWebber, Inc. v. Aiken | 197 F. Supp. 2d 436 | 22 |
| 2009 | Suntrust Mortgage, Inc. v. Busby | 651 F. Supp. 2d 472 | 20 |
| 2003 | Moore v. CITY OF ASHEVILLE, NC | 290 F. Supp. 2d 664 | 20 |
| 1999 | Suhre v. Haywood County, NC | 55 F. Supp. 2d 384 | 19 |
| 2005 | Wachovia Bank, National Ass'n v. Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas | 397 F. Supp. 2d 698 | 17 |
| 2005 | LOCAL 2-1971 OF PACE INTERNATIONAL UNION v. Cooper | 364 F. Supp. 2d 546 | 14 |
| 2002 | Delk v. ArvinMeritor, Inc. | 179 F. Supp. 2d 615 | 13 |
| 1997 | Superguide Corp. v. Kegan | 987 F. Supp. 481 | 13 |
| 2000 | Thomas, the Lord of Shalford v. Shelley's Jewelry, Inc. | 127 F. Supp. 2d 779 | 11 |
| 2007 | Anderson v. Dobson | 627 F. Supp. 2d 619 | 10 |
| 2002 | Rice v. Bellsouth Advertising & Publishing Corp. | 240 F. Supp. 2d 526 | 10 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 188 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 Lacy Herman Thornburg?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Lacy Herman Thornburg to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in 1995.
- Was Lacy Herman Thornburg appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Lacy Herman Thornburg was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Lacy Herman Thornburg's confirmation vote?
- Lacy Herman Thornburg was confirmed by voice vote on March 17, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Lacy Herman Thornburg on?
- Lacy Herman Thornburg 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
- Wikidata
- Portrait: unknown, State of North Carolina (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
14 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).