Wilcox v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 7 BRUCE WILCOX, et al., 8 Case No. 2:20-cv-01545-JAD-NJK Plaintiff(s), 9 Order v. 10 [Docket Nos. 57, 58, 59] PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES, 11 LLC, 12 Defendant(s). 13 Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ motion to be referred to the Pro Bono Program to 14 obtain attorney representation. Docket No. 57. Whether to refer a party to the Pro Bono Program 15 is a matter of judicial discretion that may include discussion of a number of factors. Williams v. 16 Hardesty, 2018 WL 2188006, at *3 (D. Nev. Apr. 10, 2018). In the circumstances of this case, the 17 Court does not find such a referral to be warranted. First, Plaintiffs do not have a significant 18 likelihood of success on the merits. See, e.g., Docket No. 52 (granting motion to dismiss). Second, 19 the Court is not persuaded that Plaintiffs are unable to articulate their claims in light of the 20 complexities involved. The issues in the case are not complex. Moreover and significantly, the 21 currently procedural posture is such that a motion to dismiss the amended complaint has been fully 22 briefed and discovery has been stayed, see Docket Nos. 47, 55, so there is no current need for 23 counsel. Accordingly, the motion to be referred to the Pro Bono Program is DENIED. 24 Also pending before the Court are Plaintiffs’ applications to proceed in forma pauperis. 25 Docket Nos. 58, 59. The filing fee in this case was paid by Defendant upon removal from state 26 court. These applications to proceed in forma pauperis are presumably filed in support of the 27 above motion for pro bono counsel. The Court has considered Plaintiffs’ indigency in considering 28 1} that motion for pro bono counsel, but does not find that circumstance changes the outcome here. 2|| Accordingly, the applications to proceed in forma pauperis are DENIED as unnecessary. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 Dated: November 16, 2021 en. Nancy JKoppe\, 6 United States Magistrate Judge 7 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28