Peters v. Monroe

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 10 BYRON L PETERS, CASE NO. C20-1422 MJP 11 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO APPOINT COUNSEL 12 v. 13 WILLIAM HANES MONROE JR, KIP ANDREW HARBISON, MARK 14 CHRISTIAN GRECO, THE LAW OFFICE OF GLASSER AND 15 GLASSER PLC, 16 Defendants.

18 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s “Request for assistance to file opposition to Defenses [sic] motion to dismiss” which the Court construes as a third motion to appoint counsel. (Dkt. No. 32; see Dkt. Nos. 4 and 13.) Having reviewed the Motion and Defendants’ response (Dkt. No. 33), the Court again DENIES Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel.

23 The Court has discretion to appoint counsel for indigent civil litigants pursuant to 28 24 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), but an appointment of counsel should only be granted under “exceptional circumstances.” Agyeman v. Corrections Corp. of Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004).

2 “A finding of the exceptional circumstances of the plaintiff seeking assistance requires at least an evaluation of the likelihood of the plaintiff's success on the merits and an evaluation of the plaintiff's ability to articulate his claims in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.”

5 Id. (internal quotations omitted).

6 Plaintiff continues not to demonstrate the merits of his claims in his motion for appointment of counsel, and the Court is unable to find sufficient merit on the face of his amended complaint to warrant appointment. Plaintiff has not presented exceptional circumstances that would justify the appointment of counsel at this time. Plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel is DENIED.

11 But to afford Plaintiff additional time to respond to Defendants’ pending motion to dismiss (he has otherwise failed to provide a response), the Court re-notes the motion to February 5, 2021. Plaintiff must file his opposition, if any, to the motion to dismiss by no later than Monday, February 1, 2021. The Court warns Plaintiff that a failure to provide an opposition “may be considered by the court as an admission that the motion has merit.” Local Civil Rule 7(b)(2).

17 The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all parties and counsel.

18 Dated January 21, 2021.

A 20 Marsha J. Pechman United States District Judge