Lou A. Griffin v. Diane Jensen, Officer Martinez, Officer Wardoo, Officer Myers, Officer Christensen, Leyendecker, Longsine, Pearson, S. Fumelle, S. Johnson, Officer Wertel, C. Xiong, Dustin R. Dimmer, and John Does

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin lifted an automatic bankruptcy stay and reopened Lou A. Griffin’s § 1983 action. The court granted Diane Jensen’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed the claims against her with prejudice based on the Wellpath bankruptcy plan’s third-party release. The court denied Griffin’s motion to appoint counsel without prejudice because he had not made reasonable efforts to obtain representation, while allowing claims against the remaining defendants to proceed.

Holdings

1. The court lifted the stay and reopened the case because the bankruptcy proceedings no longer required the action to remain stayed.
2. Claims against Jensen arising from prepetition events were discharged or released under the confirmed Wellpath bankruptcy plan, and Jensen was therefore entitled to judgment on the pleadings and dismissal with prejudice.
3. The court denied Griffin's motion to appoint counsel without prejudice because he failed to make reasonable, good-faith efforts to obtain counsel on his own.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the case should be reopened and the automatic stay lifted after the bankruptcy court confirmed Wellpath's Chapter 11 plan and lifted the stay.
2. Whether judgment on the pleadings was proper because Griffin's prepetition claims against Jensen were discharged or released under Wellpath's confirmed bankruptcy plan.
3. Whether Griffin was entitled to appointed counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) after contacting only two attorneys, including one who did not handle the type of claim at issue.

Disposition

other