1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ROBERT L. RANSOM, No. 2:25-cv-0531 AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 K. SPINELLI, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. ECF No. 40. The United States 18 Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent 19 prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court,

(1989). In 20 certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the voluntary assistance of 21 counsel pursuant to

(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer,

(9th Cir. 22 1991); Wood v. Housewright,

(9th Cir. 1990). 23 “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must consider ‘the 24 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims 25 pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.’” Palmer v. Valdez,

, 26 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting Weygandt v. Look,

(9th Cir. 1983)). The burden 27 of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff.

Circumstances common to 28 most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish 1 | exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 2 Plaintiff requests that the court issue a discovery order, set a trial date, and appoint trial 3 || counsel. ECF No. 40. He seeks counsel on the grounds that he will no longer be able to receive 4 | help from the inmate that has been assisting him, and he does not have any legal knowledge.

5 || Plaintiffs request for a discovery order will be denied, as the court has already issued a discovery 6 || and scheduling order. ECF No. 37. However, since it appears plaintiff may not have received the 7 || order, the Clerk of the Court will be directed to send him another copy. With respect to the 8 || request to set a trial date and appoint trial counsel, the request will be denied as premature. 9 || Discovery is still ongoing and the deadline to file dispositive motions has not yet passed. 10 || Therefore, it is currently unclear whether this case will proceed to trial. To the extent plaintiff 11 || seeks a general appointment of counsel, that he does not have any legal education and will no 12 | longer have the assistance of the inmate currently helping him are common circumstances for 13 || inmates and therefore do not show the existence of extraordinary circumstances warranting the 14 || appointment of counsel. 15 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 16 1. Plaintiffs request to order discovery, set a trial date, and appointment counsel (ECF 17 | No. 40) is DENIED. 18 2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff a copy of the August 5, 2025 19 || discovery and scheduling order (ECF No. 37). 20 | DATED: November 17, 2025 * 21 Chthwen— Clare ALLISON CLAIRE 22 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 23 24 25 26 27 28