Cairns v. Kozel

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

MICHAEL L. CAIRNS, 8:20CV162 Plaintiff,

MEMORANDUM

VS. AND ORDER

JAMES KOZEL,

Defendant.

The court is in receipt of correspondence from Plaintiff, dated June 10, 2021, in which he requests certain advice about locating a potential witness and obtaining an affidavit from another individual (Filing 46). Treated as a motion, the request will be denied. The court cannot provide any legal advice to Plaintiff. McGrone v. Boyd, No. 8:18CV233, 2019 WL 2583841, at *5 (D. Neb. June 24, 2019); see Mala v. Crown Bay Marina, Inc., 704 F.3d 239, 244 (3d Cir. 2013) (“[A] ‘trial judge is under no duty to provide personal instruction on courtroom procedure or to perform any legal “chores” for [a pro se litigant] that counsel would normally carry out.’ ... Judges must be impartial, and they put their impartiality at risk—or at least might appear to become partial to one side—when they provide trial assistance to a party.”’) (quoting Pliler vy. Ford, 542 U.S. 225, 231 (2004)).

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for legal advice (Filing 46) is denied.

Dated this 15th day of June, 2021.

BY THE COURT:

Kctiard GF Ac YH

Richard G. Kopf

Senior United States District Judge