UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

MAURICE COLLINS,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 21-CV-1271

OFFICER MATTHEW SCULLION, et al.,

Defendants.

ORDER

On July 14, 2022, pro se plaintiff Maurice Collins, who is incarcerated, filed a motion requesting assistance of counsel. (ECF No. 16.) He states that, because the defendants did not timely move for summary judgment, the case is going to trial and he would like an attorney at trial. Summary judgment motions are currently due August 1, 2022. (ECF No. 10.) So the defendants still have time to move for summary judgment. In addition, Collins has not demonstrated that he has made a good faith effort to hire an attorney on his own, which is “a mandatory, threshold inquiry that must be determined before” the court can assess whether he is competent to litigate the case without the assistance of an attorney. Eagan v. Dempsey,

, 682 (7th Cir. 2021). To demonstrate he satisfied the first prong, Collins must show he contacted at least three lawyers and provide the court with (1) the lawyers’ names; (2) their addresses; (3) how and when he attempted to contact the lawyers; and (4) the lawyers’ responses. As such, the court denies Collins’s motion to recruit counsel. On July 18, 2022, the defendants indicated that all parties have agreed to mediation, requested the court refer the case to another magistrate judge within the jurisdiction for mediation, and stay the case deadlines pending mediation. (ECF No. 17.) The court grants the defendants’ motion. The court will direct the clerk of courts’ office to refer the case to another magistrate judge for mediation. The court will also stay the case deadlines. Should mediation prove unsuccessful, the court will issue an amended scheduling order resetting the case deadlines.. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Collins’s motion to appoint counsel (ECF No. 16) is DENIED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the dispositive motion deadline is STAYED pending mediation.

Dated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this 25th day of July, 2022.

BY THE COURT

WILLIAM E. DUFFIN United States Magistrate Judge