Ellis v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 23

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 11/8/2017 DENYING 22 Motion for Appointment of Counsel.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 LYNNETTE ELLIS, 11 12 13 14 15 No. 2:16-cv-1490-EFB PS Plaintiff, v. ORDER NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant. 16 17 On September 20, 2017, the court denied plaintiff’s motion to remand and granted the 18 Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment. ECF No. 20. The Clerk of the Court closed the 19 case and judgment was entered accordingly. ECF No. 21. On October 26, 2017, plaintiff filed a 20 motion for appointment of counsel. ECF No. 22. 21 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) authorizes the appointment of counsel to represent an indigent 22 civil litigant in certain exceptional circumstances. See Agyeman v. Corrections Corp. of America, 23 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir 2004); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir.1991); 24 Richards v. Harper, 864 F.2d 85, 87 (9th Cir.1988). In considering whether exceptional 25 circumstances exist, the court must evaluate (1) the plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits; 26 and (2) the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the 27 legal issues involved. Terrell, 935 F.2d at 1017. Because this case is closed, the court does not 28 find that exceptional circumstances exist justifying the appointment of counsel. 1 1 2 Accordingly, plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 22) is denied. DATED: November 8, 2017. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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