Scalant

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ALBERTO ERICK SCALANT, Case No. 24-cv-04516-RFL

Plaintiff,

ORDER

v. Re: Dkt. Nos. 22,

SCOTT ENRICO,

Defendant.

Alberto Scalant, a detainee proceeding pro se, filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The sole Defendant in this case filed a motion for summary judgment on November 14, 2025. (Dkt. No. 23.) Plaintiff has not filed an opposition but did file a motion to appoint counsel. (Dkt. No. 24.) There is no constitutional right to counsel in a civil case, Lassiter v. Dep’t of Social Services, 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981). Although district courts may “request” that counsel represent a litigant who is proceeding in forma pauperis as Plaintiff is here, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), that does not give the courts the power to make “coercive appointments of counsel.” Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 310 (1989). The Ninth Circuit has held that a district court may ask counsel to represent an indigent litigant only in “exceptional circumstances,” the determination of which requires an evaluation of both (1) the likelihood of success on the merits and (2) the ability of…