Fitts v. Heartland Human Care Services, Inc.

Filing 6

WRITTEN Opinion entered by the Honorable Harry D. Leinenweber on 3/27/2012: Plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel is DENIED without prejudice. Plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis is continued generally. Plaintiff is i nstructed to supply the information requested (see below) within 30 days of entry of this order. Failure to supply the requested information will result in dismissal of the suit with prejudice for failure to prosecute. [ For further details see written opinion.] (tg, )

United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Name of Assigned Judge
or Magistrate Judge

Harry D. Leinenweber

CASE NUMBER

12 C 1531

CASE
TITLE

Sitting Judge if Other
than Assigned Judge

DATE

3/27/2012

Fitts vs. Heartland Human Care Services

DOCKET ENTRY TEXT

Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel is DENIED without prejudice. Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in
forma pauperis is continued generally. Plaintiff is instructed to supply the information requested (see below)
within 30 days of entry of this order. Failure to supply the requested information will result in dismissal of the
suit with prejudice for failure to prosecute.

O[ For further details see text below.]

Notices mailed by Judicial staff.

STATEMENT
Plaintiff’s in forma pauperis application [D.t. No. 3] is continued generally.
Part of the determination in an in forma pauperis ruling is first determining whether the complaint has any
possible merit or is frivolous on its face. Wartman v. Branch 7, Civil Div., Cnty. Ct., Milwaukee Cnty., State
of Wis., 510 F.2d 130, 134 (7th Cir. 1975). Plaintiff’s complaint alleges he was denied a reasonable
accommodation and was fired as a result of the failure to accommodate, but does not state what that
accommodation requested was. At this stage, this is sufficient to move it past the frivolousness hurdle, but
the Court emphasizes this is a different standard than whether a complaint is sufficient to survive a motion to
dismiss.
Plaintiff is instructed to file a statement clarifying details as to the $6,474 in unemployment he reported
receiving in question 4(f) of the in forma pauperis application. Plaintiff should indicate the total time
period over which this amount was paid. Plaintiff is given 30 days from the entry of this order to provide the
supplemental detail ordered, or the complaint will be dismissed for lack of prosecution.
Plaintiff has also applied for appointment of counsel. [D.t. Nos. 5]
A request for appointment for counsel is entirely discretionary, but must always be evaluated on an individual
basis grounded in the Court’s judgment rather than a standard response or inclination. Pruitt v. Mote, 503
F.3d 647, 654-655 (7th Cir. 2007). While there is no mandated formula for considering requests for counsel,
three factors are typically taken into consideration: (1) Whether the indigent party has made “reasonable
efforts to retain counsel,” (2) the difficulty of the case weighted against to the indigent party’s competency to
litigate the case and (3) if a plaintiff does not appear competent, whether the presence of counsel would
conceivably make a difference to the outcome of the case. Id. In pro se cases, there may be few facts on
12C1531 Fitts vs. Heartland Human Care Services

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STATEMENT
which to base competency, but the court is to evaluate it in light of whatever relevant evidence is available.
Id. at 655. This evaluation may be revisited at the discretion of the court as the case progresses, or new
information arrives to inform the Court. Id. at 658.
Here, Plaintiff has represented he contacted four organizations seeking counsel, which is a modest number of
entities. As to the difficulty of the case, the record is skeletal at this point, but appears to be one count under
the Americans with Disabilities Act, which does not seem overly complex. Additionally, Plaintiff has
represented he is a college graduate, which indicates he is competent to pursue his own litigation. Therefore,
the motion for appointment of counsel is denied without prejudice. If the posture of the case changes
substantially, plaintiff may file a motion for reconsideration.

12C1531 Fitts vs. Heartland Human Care Services

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