Cervantes

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 ADRIAN L. CERVANTES, Case No. 23-cv-00811-AMO (PR)

Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR

APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL

v.

DALIZU ELSEN, et al., Defendants.

Plaintiff has filed a motion for appointment of counsel in this prisoner civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Dkt. 9. There is no constitutional right to counsel in a civil case unless an indigent litigant may lose his physical liberty if he loses the litigation. See Lassiter v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981). The court may seek counsel to represent an indigent litigant under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 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 the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See id. at 1525; Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1331 (9th Cir. 1986). Both…