Zwirn v. Ruggiero

Filing 8

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney on 1/4/17 ORDERING that 2 Motion to Appoint Counsel is DENIED.(Dillon, M)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 DAVID ZWIRN, 11 No. 2:16-cv-2853 CKD P Plaintiff, 12 v. 13 A. RUGGIERO, 14 ORDER Defendant. 15 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, has requested 16 17 appointment of counsel. The court cannot require an attorney to represent a plaintiff who cannot 18 pay for the attorney’s services. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). 19 However, under the federal in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the court may request 20 that an attorney represent a person unable to afford counsel. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). The court 21 will make that request only when there are exceptional circumstances. When determining 22 whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, the court considers, among other things, plaintiff's 23 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro 24 se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 25 (9th Cir. 2009). While the court is aware of the difficulties attendant to litigating an action while 26 incarcerated, circumstances common to most prisoners do not establish “exceptional 27 circumstances.” 28 ///// 1 1 In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances at this 2 stage of these proceedings. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s request for 3 the appointment of counsel (ECF No. 2) is denied. 4 Dated: January 4, 2017 _____________________________________ CAROLYN K. DELANEY UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 5 6 7 8 9 1/kly zwir2853.31 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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