Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr.
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. He earned a law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1969. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1943 · age 83
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1988
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Wake Forest College 1966 · Wake Forest Law 1969
- Succeeded
- Hiram Hamilton Ward
- Succeeded by
- Catherine Caldwell Eagles
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Middle District of North Carolina succeeded Hiram Hamilton Ward | Reagan (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.
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
| Wake Forest College | B.S. | 1966 |
| Wake Forest University School of Law | J.D. | 1969 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Tilley was assigned 5,614 district-court cases (1986–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 265 days across 5,602 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 372 of Tilley’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 349 were affirmed, 13 reversed or vacated, and 10 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, Tilley authored 120 published opinions for the court (1989–2008). Most cited: Merck & Co. Inc. v. Lyon (38 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Merck & Co. Inc. v. Lyon | 941 F. Supp. 1443 | 38 |
| 1993 | Andrews v. Fitzgerald | 823 F. Supp. 356 | 34 |
| 2003 | Dunn v. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp. | 275 F. Supp. 2d 672 | 25 |
| 1996 | Rhodes, Inc. v. Morrow | 937 F. Supp. 1202 | 24 |
| 2004 | Moore v. Cox | 341 F. Supp. 2d 570 | 22 |
| 2003 | Brown v. Flowers | 297 F. Supp. 2d 846 | 21 |
| 1999 | Rhône-Poulenc Agro S.A. v. Monsanto Co. | 73 F. Supp. 2d 540 | 20 |
| 2007 | Blue Mako, Inc. v. Minidis | 472 F. Supp. 2d 690 | 18 |
| 1997 | Food Lion, Inc. v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. | 964 F. Supp. 956 | 18 |
| 1992 | Strickland v. MICA Information Systems | 800 F. Supp. 1320 | 18 |
| 1995 | Food Lion, Inc. v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. | 887 F. Supp. 811 | 16 |
| 1993 | Brin-Mont Chemicals, Inc. v. Worth Chemical Corp. (In Re Brin-Mont Chemicals, Inc.) | 154 B.R. 903 | 16 |
| 2006 | Securities & Exchange Commission v. Marker | 427 F. Supp. 2d 583 | 15 |
| 2004 | Iconbazaar, L.L.C. v. America Online, Inc. | 308 F. Supp. 2d 630 | 15 |
| 2003 | Mandsager v. UNIV. OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO | 269 F. Supp. 2d 662 | 15 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 120 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 Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr.?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in 1988.
- Was Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 14, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. on?
- Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- 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.
37 years on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).