---
title: "David Alan Bragdon | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/david-alan-bragdon"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-08"
---

# David Alan Bragdon

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina · Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
- State: North Carolina
- Role: Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- On August 22, 2025, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Bragdon to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, a seat vacated by Judge Loretta Copeland Biggs
- U.S. district judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, confirmed in December 2025 after being nominated by President Donald Trump
- Assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of North Carolina, 2007-2025; appellate chief, 2021-2025
- He also held the role of a resident legal advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (2017–2020) and as an adjunct professor at Campbell University School of Law (2023)
- Joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 2007 as an assistant U.S. attorney, later becoming Chief of Appeals in 2021
- Resident legal advisor, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (on detail), 2017-2020
- Law clerk, Hon. Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court of the United States, 2006-2007
- Law clerk for Judge Stephen F. Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (2002–2003) and later clerked for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court (2006–2007)
- Associate at Burr & Forman in Birmingham, Alabama (2003–2006)
- Law clerk, Hon. Stephen F. Williams, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2002-2003

### Education

- University of Virginia School of Law in, where he held the role of editor of the Virginia Law Review — J.D. (2002)
- B.A. in Government from Campbell University in 1999

### Additional information

- Private practice, Birmingham, Alabama, 2003-2006
- David Alan Bragdon was born in 1977 in Warren, Ohio.

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### civil remote testimony

Scope: courtwide

In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.

Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.

[Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### criminal recording and broadcasting

Scope: courtwide

Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.

Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.

[Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762085)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762085)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762085)
- [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure)
- [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts)
- [Judge David Alan Bragdon](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762085)

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## Federal civil docket activity

Dataset updated through 2026-06-30.

| Period | Assigned cases | Terminated cases | Median disposition (months) | Median sample |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1y | 12 | 0 | Not available | 0 |
| 2y | 12 | 0 | Not available | 0 |
| 5y | 12 | 0 | Not available | 0 |
| 10y | 12 | 0 | Not available | 0 |

Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/


## Published courtroom rules

### Shared court rules

- [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
- [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.
