Joshua Maynard v. United Services Automobile Association Federal Savings Bank

• Court: District Court, N.D. California
• Decided: December 2, 2025
• Docket: 4:21-cv-04519
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 JOSHUA MAYNARD, Case No. 21-cv-04519-JSW

11 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 12 v. APPOINT COUNSEL, REFERRING PLAINTIFF TO LEGAL SERVICES, 13 UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE AND GRANTING REQUEST TO ASSOCIATION FEDERAL SAVINGS EXTEND DATES 14 BANK, Re: Dkt. Nos. 106, 107 15 Defendant. 16 Now before the Court is Plaintiff’s motions for appointment of counsel and to extend 17 dates. The Court does not find cause to appoint counsel in this matter. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 18 1915(e)(1), the Court may request that an attorney represent a person who is unable to afford 19 counsel. Unless a party may lose her physical liberty if she loses the case, however, there is 20 generally no constitutional right to an attorney in a civil action. See Lassiter v. Dep’t of Soc. Serv. 21 of Durham Cnty., N.C., 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981); Nicholson v. Rushen, 767 F.2d 1426, 1427 (9th 22 Cir. 1985) (citation omitted). Nonetheless, the court may request counsel under § 1915(e)(1), but 23 only in “exceptional circumstances.” See Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 24 1991). To determine whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, the trial court should evaluate (1) 25 the likelihood of the indigent party’s success on the merits and (2) the indigent party’s ability to 26 articulate her claims in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Id. “Neither of these 27 factors is dispositive and both must be viewed together before reaching a decision.” 1 finding that exceptional circumstances exist. The Court does not find it likely that Plaintiff will 2 || succeed on the merits and also finds that he is fully able to articulate his claims. Accordingly, the 3 |} Court DENIES Plaintiff’s request to appoint counsel. 4 However, the Court HEREBY REFERS Plaintiff, who appears pro se, to the Handbook for 5 Pro Se Litigants, which contains helpful information about proceeding without an attorney, is 6 || available through the Court’s website (https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/pro-se-litigants) or in the 7 Clerk’s office. The Court also advises Plaintiff that he may wish to seek further assistance from 8 || the Volunteer Legal Help Center by emailing fedpro@sfbar.org or by calling the appointment line 9 at (415) 782-8982. The attorney at the Legal Help Center can provide information, advice, and 10 || basic legal help but cannot represent litigants as their lawyer. 11 Further, in order to give Plaintiff extra time to prepare his case for summary judgment, the 12 || Court HEREBY GRANTS his request to continue the hearing on the anticipated motion(s) for 5 13 summary judgment to March 6, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. The Court VACATES the pretrial and trial 14 dates and shall reset them, if necessary, in the order resolving the motion(s) for summary 3 15 || judgment. 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 17 Dated: December 2, 2025 f | ff tt FERBY S. WHI 19 [United Atdtes Digéfict Judge 20 ve 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28