Goodvine, Christopher v. Hamblin, Gary et al

Filing 286

ORDER that the clerk's office enter David Anstaett of Perkins Coie, as plaintiff's pro bono counsel of record and to set this case for a pretrial conference in June 2014, as the court's schedule allows. Signed by District Judge William M. Conley on 4/11/2014. (jef),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

CHRISTOPHER GOODVINE,
ORDER
Plaintiff,
v.

12-cv-134-wmc
GARY ANKARLO, et al.,
Defendants.
Plaintiff Christopher Goodvine filed this civil action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,
concerning the conditions of his confinement at the Columbia Correctional Institution
("CCI"). At plaintiffs request, the court has recruited counsel David Anstaett of the
highly-regarded law firm of Perkins Coie, in Madison, Wisconsin, to represent him pro

bono for the remainder of this civil action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(l) ("The court may
request an attorney to represent any person unable to afford counsel."); Prnitt v. Mote,
503 F.3d 647, 653-54 (7th Cir. 2007) (en bane) (noting that§ 1915(e)(l) confers, at
most, discretion "to recruit a lawyer to represent an indigent civil litigant pro bono

publico"). Accordingly, the court will enter his appearance as plaintiffs pro bono counsel
for the record.
The next step is for the court to hold a status conference to establish a new
scheduling order in this case.

Plaintiffs counsel should contact the Wisconsin

Department of Corrections for purposes of consulting with plaintiff in the preparation of
his case whether by phone ancVor in person. So that counsel will have sufficient time to
consult with plaintiff in advance of a preliminary pretrial conference, the clerk's office
will be directed to set that conference before the undersigned in June 2014, as the court's

schedule allows.
Finally, plaintiff should appreciate that his counsel took on this representation out
of a sense of professional responsibility, which includes representing zealously those
clients they take on. Now that he is represented by counsel, plaintiff is advised that in
return for representation plaintiff, too, has taken on a responsibility. For example, all
future communications with the court must be through his attorney of record. Plaintiff
must also work directly and cooperatively with his attorney, as well as those working at
his direction, and must permit them to exercise their professional judgment to determine
which matters are appropriate to bring to the court's attention and in what form.
Plaintiff does not have the right to require counsel to raise frivolous arguments or to
follow every directive he makes. On the contrary, plaintiff should expect his counsel to
tell him what he needs to hear, rather than what he might prefer to have heard, and
understand that the rules of professional conduct may preclude counsel from taking
certain actions or permitting him from doing so. Accordingly, plaintiff must be prepared
to accept the strategic decisions made by his lawyers even if he disagrees with some of
them.
If plaintiff decides at some point that he does not wish to work with his lawyers,

he is free to alert the court and end their representation, but he should be aware that it is
highly unlikely that the court will recruit a second set of attorneys to represent him.

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ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that the clerk's office enter David Anstaett of Perkins Coie, as
plaintiffs pro bono counsel of record and to set this case for a pretrial conference in June
2014, as the court's schedule allows.
Entered this 11th day of April, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

/s/
WILLIAM M. CONLEY

District Judge

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