Robert Bryan Harwell
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Bryan Harwell is 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 1982. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1959 · age 67
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2004
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Clemson 1980 · University of South Carolina Law 1982
- Succeeded
- Charles Weston Houck
- Succeeded by
- Sheria Akins Clarke
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | District of South Carolina succeeded Charles Weston Houck | 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.
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
| Clemson University | B.A. | 1980 |
| University of South Carolina School of Law | J.D. | 1982 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Harwell was assigned 3,374 district-court cases (1994–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 223 days across 3,371 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 438 of Harwell’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 404 were affirmed, 18 reversed or vacated, and 16 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, Harwell authored 12 published opinions for the court (2004–2011). Most cited: George v. Duke Energy Retirement Cash Balance Plan (16 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | George v. Duke Energy Retirement Cash Balance Plan | 560 F. Supp. 2d 444 | 16 |
| 2010 | Moss v. City of Abbeville | 740 F. Supp. 2d 738 | 9 |
| 2004 | Atlantic Floor Services, Inc. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 334 F. Supp. 2d 875 | 7 |
| 2011 | Way v. Astrue | 789 F. Supp. 2d 652 | 6 |
| 2009 | Latham v. Matthews | 662 F. Supp. 2d 441 | 5 |
| 2011 | Deerfield Plantation Phase II-B Property Owners Ass'n v. United States Army Corps of Engineers | 801 F. Supp. 2d 446 | 4 |
| 2009 | Washington v. Commissioner of Social Security | 659 F. Supp. 2d 738 | 3 |
| 2007 | Graves v. Horry-Georgetown Technical College | 512 F. Supp. 2d 413 | 3 |
| 2009 | Johnson v. MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA | 658 F. Supp. 2d 732 | 2 |
| 2011 | Campbell v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance | 766 F. Supp. 2d 661 | 1 |
| 2009 | Monsanto Co. v. Strickland | 604 F. Supp. 2d 805 | 1 |
| 2007 | Aiken County v. Bodman | 509 F. Supp. 2d 548 | 0 |
Showing the 12 most-cited of 12 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 Robert Bryan Harwell?
- President George W. Bush appointed Robert Bryan Harwell to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina in 2004.
- Was Robert Bryan Harwell appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert Bryan Harwell was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Robert Bryan Harwell's confirmation vote?
- Robert Bryan Harwell was confirmed by voice vote on June 24, 2004. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Robert Bryan Harwell on?
- Robert Bryan Harwell is 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.
22 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).