Spearman v. Parson ( 2020 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION RUFUS LAMAR SAVIN SPEARMAN, Case No. 18-10673 Plaintiffs, v. Honorable Nancy G. Edmunds MARY PARSON, ET. AL., Defendants. / ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL [27] Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s post-judgment motion for appointment of counsel. (ECF No. 27.) In the Sixth Circuit, parties do not have an “automatic” constitutional right to counsel in a civil suit and, typically, counsel is only appointed in an exceptional case. Glover v. Johnson, 75 F.3d 264, 268 (6th Cir. 1996) (observing that courts in the Sixth Circuit do not appoint counsel for indigent and pro se prisoners in civil rights cases absent truly extraordinary circumstances). The Court has carefully considered Plaintiff's request, the status and procedural posture of this case, his ability to represent himself, the record as a whole, and the issues and complexity of this case, and concludes that the appointment of counsel is not warranted because there are no exceptional circumstances to justify appointing counsel. See Lavado v. Keohane, 992 F.2d 601, 606 (6th Cir. 1993); Mira v. Marshall, 806 F.2d 636, 638 (6th Cir. 1986). Accordingly, Plaintiff's request for the Court to appoint him counsel is DENIED. SO ORDERED. s/Nancy G. Edmunds Nancy G. Edmunds 1 United States District Judge Dated: October 22, 2020 I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon counsel of record on October 22, 2020, by electronic and/or ordinary mail. 2