(PC) Lear v. Sahota ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 RODERICK WILLIAM LEAR, No. 2:18-cv-3099 MCE DB P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 PREETRANJAN SAHOTA, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 17 appointment of counsel. Plaintiff states that he lacks legal experience and feels overwhelmed by 18 the parties’ current discovery disputes. He asks for the appointment of counsel to assist in 19 opposing any motion for summary judgment and to assist in the settlement conference set for 20 January 5, 2021. 21 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 22 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 23 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the 24 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 25 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 26 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 27 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 28 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 2 || common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 3 | establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 4 | counsel. Inthe present case, plaintiff has adequately represented himself and his difficulties in 5 || litigating this case are the same difficulties faced by almost all prisoners. The court does not find 6 | the required exceptional circumstances. 7 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of 8 || counsel (ECF No. 76) is denied. 9 | Dated: November 5, 2020 10 11 D ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 DB iprisoner-civi rights/lear3099.31 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28