Patrick Michael Duffy
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by voice vote, Patrick Michael Duffy was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. He earned a law degree from University of South Carolina School of Law in 1968. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1943 · age 83
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1995
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- The Citadel 1965 · University of South Carolina Law 1968
- Succeeded
- Matthew James Perry Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Timothy Martin Cain
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | District of South Carolina succeeded Matthew James Perry Jr. | 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
| The Citadel | B.A. | 1965 |
| University of South Carolina School of Law | J.D. | 1968 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Duffy was assigned 5,695 district-court cases (1970–2018). Median time from filing to termination: 280 days across 5,693 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 246 of Duffy’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 223 were affirmed, 18 reversed or vacated, and 5 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, Duffy authored 275 published opinions for the court (1996–2011). Most cited: Nucor Corp. v. Bell (47 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Nucor Corp. v. Bell | 482 F. Supp. 2d 714 | 47 |
| 2008 | Merriweather v. Reynolds | 586 F. Supp. 2d 548 | 38 |
| 2006 | Union Insurance Co. v. Soleil Group, Inc. | 465 F. Supp. 2d 567 | 22 |
| 2001 | Little v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. | 243 F. Supp. 2d 480 | 21 |
| 2007 | City of Charleston, SC v. Hotels. Com, LP | 520 F. Supp. 2d 757 | 19 |
| 2008 | City of Charleston, SC v. Hotels. Com, LP | 586 F. Supp. 2d 538 | 18 |
| 2007 | Motley Rice, LLC v. Baldwin & Baldwin, LLP | 518 F. Supp. 2d 688 | 18 |
| 2007 | Seabolt v. Barnhart | 481 F. Supp. 2d 538 | 16 |
| 2008 | Snyder v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 586 F. Supp. 2d 453 | 15 |
| 2006 | Singleton v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (In Re Singleton) | 358 B.R. 253 | 15 |
| 2006 | Benjamin v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 413 F. Supp. 2d 652 | 15 |
| 2003 | Jones v. FAMILY HEALTH CENTERS, INC. | 323 F. Supp. 2d 681 | 15 |
| 2008 | Mincey v. World Savings Bank, FSB | 614 F. Supp. 2d 610 | 14 |
| 2006 | SHIFTLET v. Allstate Insurance Co. | 451 F. Supp. 2d 763 | 14 |
| 2006 | Smith v. Ozmint | 444 F. Supp. 2d 502 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 275 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 Patrick Michael Duffy?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Patrick Michael Duffy to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina in 1995.
- Was Patrick Michael Duffy appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Patrick Michael Duffy was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Patrick Michael Duffy's confirmation vote?
- Patrick Michael Duffy was confirmed by voice vote on December 22, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Patrick Michael Duffy on?
- Patrick Michael Duffy was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South 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.
23 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).