Springs

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA Jordan SPRINGS, Case No.: 21-cv-0862-MMA-AGS Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO

APPOINT COUNSEL (ECF 16)

v. RABER, Defendant. 15 Plaintiff Jordan Springs, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, requests appointed counsel because he “is unable to afford counsel,” and he believes “the issues involved in the case are complex and will require significant research and investigation.” (ECF 15, at 1-2.) “Generally, a person has no right to counsel in civil actions.” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). Even under the statutory authority to recruit counsel in civil cases, the Court cannot force attorneys to represent an indigent civil litigant. See Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for the S. Dist. of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 310 (1989) (holding that the relevant statute—28 U.S.C. § 1915—“does not authorize the federal courts to make coercive appointments of counsel”). But “a court may under ‘exceptional circumstances’ appoint…