Brooks v. Hubbell

Opinion

2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 James L. Brooks, Case No. 2:23-cv-00757-JAD-DJA 6 Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 Paul Hubbell, et al., 9 Defendants. 10 11 This is a prisoner civil rights action. Plaintiff James L. Brooks is in the custody of the Ely 12 State Prison. Plaintiff moves for appointment of counsel. (ECF No. 15). Because the Court 13 finds that Plaintiff has not demonstrated exceptional circumstances, it denies his motion for 14 appointment of counsel. 15 I. Discussion. 16 A litigant does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 17 civil rights claims. Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 (9th Cir. 1981). Under 28 U.S.C. 18 § 1915(e)(1), “[t]he court may request an attorney to represent any person unable to afford 19 counsel.” However, the court will appoint counsel for indigent civil litigants only in “exceptional 20 circumstances.” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (§ 1983 action). “When 21 determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must consider ‘the likelihood of 22 success on the merits as well as the ability of the petitioner to articulate his claims pro se in light 23 of the complexity of the legal issues involved.’” Id. “Neither of these considerations is 24 dispositive and instead must be viewed together.” Id. 25 The Court denies Plaintiff’s motion because it does not find that he has demonstrated 26 exceptional circumstances. Plaintiff has filed what appears to be a stock motion for appointment 27 of counsel which does not explain why his particular circumstances are extraordinary such that an 1 Procedure, which do not apply to this civil case. Plaintiff has also thus far demonstrated an 2 ability to articulate his claims. And, without prejudging the outcome, it is unclear whether 3 Plaintiff will succeed on the merits of his claims. Finally, Plaintiff’s mail has been returned as 4 undeliverable. (ECF Nos. 13, 14). The Court will thus require that Plaintiff update his address as 5 required by Nevada Local Rule IA 3-1. 6 7 ORDER 8 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel (ECF 9 No. 15) is denied without prejudice. 10 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff must update his address on or before 11 November 27, 2023. Failure to comply with this order may result in the recommended 12 dismissal of this case. 13 14 DATED: October 26, 2023 15 DANIEL J. ALBREGTS 16 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27