Matthew C. Stechauner v. Tony Evers

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin denied without prejudice Matthew C. Stechauner’s motions for assistance in recruiting counsel in two prisoner civil-rights cases. The court found that although he satisfied the indigence and reasonable-efforts requirements, it was too early to determine whether the factual and legal complexity of the cases exceeded his ability to litigate them without counsel.

Holdings

1. A civil litigant has no constitutional right to appointed counsel, and the court may only assist in recruiting counsel willing to serve voluntarily under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1).
2. The motion for assistance in recruiting counsel must be denied without prejudice because, although Stechauner established indigence and the court accepted his assertion that he had made reasonable efforts to find counsel, the record did not yet show that the legal and factual difficulty of either case exceeded his ability to litigate.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court should assist in recruiting volunteer counsel for Stechauner in his two pending prisoner medical-care and mental-health-care actions.
2. Whether the legal and factual difficulty of the cases exceeded Stechauner's ability to litigate them at the discovery stage.

Disposition

other